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SUMMARY 



OF 



RECENT DISCOYERIES 



IN 



BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY, UNIVERSAL HIS- 
TORY AND EGYPTIAN ARCHEOLOGY; 



WITH 



SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DR. ABBOTT'S EGYP- 
TIAIS" MUSEUM IN N^EW-YORK. 



lOGETHEB WITH 



A TRANSLATION OF THE FIRST SACRED BOOK 
OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 



^ ' BY 

TO/' 



G. SEYEFARTH, A.M., Ph.D., D.D. 




NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY HENRY LUDWIG, 

No. 39, CENTRE-STREET. 

Sold also by: — 
R. Carter, No. 530 Broadway ; Strixger & Townsend, under the American Mu- 
seum, 222 Broadway, and at the Egyptian Museum, 659 Braadivay, New-York ; — 
Lindsay & Blackiston, 25 S. f^th-st. Philadelphia;— 1. N. Kurtz, 151 Pratt-st., 
Baltimore, and by all Booksellers in the U. States. 

18 5 7. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

HenryLudwiq, 

la the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, (br the Southern 

District of New- York. 






r 



PREFACE. 

The application of astronomy to the historic scienceSj first 
attempted by Newton, has, during the last few decennia, super- 
induced a complete reconstruction of the chronology of the 
Old and New Testaments introduced by Petavius 1627, of all 
ancient history down to Titus, and of the Archaeology of Egypt 
as hitherto understood. The following pages present a brief 
survey of recent discoveries made in these sciences, since that 
time. The reader will find only an outline, as the compass 
of a few lectures, in which the communications were first 
made, did not admit of more particular specifications, and the 
came subjects have been already more fully treated by the 
author in a number of other works. If the discourses should 
leave many points insufficiently explained and obscure, further 
information will be found in the following works of the au- 
thor. Systema astronomiae -<3Egyptiac9e quadripartitum. Con- 
spectus astronomiae ^gyptiacae mathematicae et apotelesmati- 
cae. Pantheon ^gyptiacum, sive symbolice -^gyptiorum as- 
tronomica. Observationes -^gyptiorum astronomicae. Hiero- 
glyphice descriptae in Zodiaco Tentyritico Tabula Isiaca sive 
Bembina, Monolitho Amosis Parisino, Sarcophago Sethi Lon- 
dinensi, Sarcophago Ramessis Parisino, papyrisque funeralibus 
annis 1832, 1693, 1631, 1104 a. Chr., 37, 54, 137 p. Chr. cet. 
Lipsiae, 1833. — Unser Alphabet ein Abbild des Thierkreises mit 
der Constellation der sieben Planeten am 7. Sept. 3446 v. Chr. 
cet. Leipz. 1834. — Unumstosslicher Beweis cet. Leipz. 1842.—. 



IV PREFACE. 

Chronologia Sacra. Untersuchungen iiber das Geburtsjahr des 
Herrn und die Zeitrechnung des A. u. N. T. Leipz. 1846. — 
Die Phonixperiode. S. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl. 
Gesellscli. Leipz. 1849. — Berichtigungen der Romisclieii, Grie- 
cliischen, Persischen, jEgyptischen, Hebraeischen Geschiclite und 
Zeitrechnung, der Mytbologie und alien Religionsgescbichte 
auf Grund neuer lustorischer und astronomischer Hiilfsmittel. 
Leipz. 1855. — Alphabeta genuina ^gyptiorum, nee non Asia- 
norum, Uteris Persarum, Medorum, Assyriorumque cuneofor- 
mibus, Zendicis, Pehlvicis et Sanscriticis subjecta cet. Lips. 
1840. — Theologiscbe Schriflen der alien ^gypter zum ersien 
Male iiberseizt. Nebst Erklarung der zweisprachigen Inschrif- 
ten, des Sieins von Rosette, des Flaminisclien Obelisken, des 
Thores von Philse, der Tafeln von Abydos und Karnak u. a. 
Goiba, 1855. — Grundsatze der Mythologie und alien Eeligions- 
gescbichie, sowie der Hieroglypbensysieme, cet. Leipz. 1843. — 
Rudimenta Hieroglypbices, cet. Lips. 1826. — Grammatica -^gyp- 
tiaca, cet. Leipz. 1855. 

May the Lord make these pages subsidiary to the good of 
his church. 

New- York, 1856. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Introduction, 7 

I. — The Papyrus-Scrolls of the Ancient Egyptians, He- 
brews, Greeks, Romans. 26 

11. — The Key to the Hieroglyphics, 31 

in. — The Sacred Books of the ancient Egyptians, 60 

rV. — The Mythology and the Object of Religious Worship 

among the Ancients, 70 

V. — The Judgment of the Dead, represented in Egyptian 

Papyri, 72 

VI. — The Demotic Legal Documents of the ancient Egyp- 
tians, 74 

YII. — The Phoenix and the Phoenix-Periods of the Ancients, 76 

VIII. — The Apis-Mummies in Egypt and New- York, 79 

IX. — The Astronomy of the ancient Egyptians, 85 

X. — The Zodiac of Dendera at Paris, 89 

XI.— The Isis-Table at Turin, 90 

Xn. — The Sarcophagus of Osimandya in London, 91 

XIII. — The Planetary Configuration of Menes on Egyptian 

Monuments, 93 

XIV. — The Planetary Configurations of the Greeks and Romans, 95 
XV. — The Planetary Configurations at the Commencement of 

the four Ages of the World, 96 

XVI. — The Planetary Configuration in the Primitive Alphabet, 101 

XVII. — Corrections of our Planetary Tables, 105 

XVIII. — The Egyptian History based upon Astronomical Ob- 
servations, 106 

XIX. — The Pyramid of Cheops, near Cairo, 113 

XX. — The true Chronology of the Old Testament, confirmed 

by Astronomical Facts, 114 

XXI. — The Grecian and Roman History corrected by Astro- 
nomical Observations, 160 

XXII. — The History of the Ifew Testament reestablished by 

Mathematical Facta, 173 

XXni. — The Ruins of Nineveh and the Cuneiform inscriptions, 

particularly at St. Louis, Mo., 192 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 



1 



Faqs 
XXIY. — The Egyptian and Hebrew Measures of capacity ex- 
plained by Egyptian Monuments in Dr. Abbot's Mu- 
seum, 200 

XXV. — The Abraxas of the Christian Gnostics, particularly in 

Dr. Abbot's Museum, 202 

Appendix. — The most important events of Biblical, Egyptian, 
Assyrian, Median, Persian, Greek and Roman History down to 
130 A.D. chronologically arranged on the basis of new Histo- 
rical and Mathematical Discoveries, 206 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The interest taken by the human mind in the 
monuments of antiquity is a remarkable pheno- 
menon. Who does not regard with reverence an 
aged tree, which a thousand years ago, beheld gene- 
rations long since passed from the earth, sitting in 
its shade? Who would willingly part with the 
clumsy, tarnished ring, which his aged mother or 
grandmother had worn upon her finger ? Who is 
not gratified by the sight of a few lines traced by 
a pen, guided by the hand of the Father of his 
country ? Who does not examine with curiosity an 
old skin, upon which Mexican priests painted their 
gods and hieroglyphics 500 years ago ? Who can 
pass without emotion through the silent streets of 
Pompeii, which once resounded with the bustle of 
the forum and the song of sailors? Who does not 
take delight in treasuring up in his casket, among 
other gems, some old coins of the age in which 
Pericles sent forth his fleets against envious Sparta ? 



INTRODUCTION. 



Who is not happy to exhibit to a friend a fragment 
of a brick, dried when Cyrus commanded that 
Jerusalem should be rebuilt ? It cannot be denied, 
that every man regards whatever is ancient, with a 
certain interest and reverence. And why does he 
do so ? These ancient things, be they beautiful or 
ugly, complete or fragmentary, lustrous or encrusted 
with filth, speak to every one that beholds them. — 
Ay, * antiquities sjyeak. We hear their language 
distinctly, not with the outward ear, but with an 
inner sense, wit^' which the Creator has endowed 
us. — Not men only, but even " stones can speak." 
And what is it, that these monuments of antiquity 
have to say to us ? Their language is : Consider, 
how young you are compared with those by-gone 
generations, whose contemporaries we have been! 
Bethink you, how soon you will disappear from the 
series of living things, without leaving behind you 
any such monuments of your existence ! A different 
world has been on earth before you ! Ask of me, 
and I will tell you what was the condition of things 
in the world at that time ; I will inform you, how 
the men of that age thought, what they believed, 
what they did, how they clothed and adorned them- 
selves, how they ate and drank. And thus there are 
many other things, which, if you be so minded, you 
may learn of me. If you had no other profit but to 
learn what you did not know, this would, in itself 
alone, be something ; for knowledge is power. And 
who would not rather be powerful than feeble ? 



INTRODUCTION. 9 



But there are other monuments of antiquity, which 
are much older, much more numerous, and far more 
instructive than the antiquities of nature, than all 
the antiquities of America, of Italy and Greece, of 
India and Assyria, which, altogether do not reach 
farther back than seven centuries before Christ. Who 
knows not that land which, as early as 6(^6 years 
after the flood, and 216 years after Noah's death, had 
a king, and possessed a literature that has been pre- 
served during 4600 years, down to our day ; that 
land, in which Abraham's desceii^dants dwelt 430 
years, and where the Old Testament had its begin- 
ning ; which maintained from the time of Joseph 
to the destruction of Jerusalem an unbroken connex- 
ion with the history of the Old and the New Testa- 
ment ; in which, 250 years before Christ an accurate 
and reliable translation of the Old Testament was 
made ; which reared anew, at Leontopolis, the temple 
of Solomon ; out of which God " called his Son," and 
whence he afterwards again brought him, inasmuch 
as its astronomical monuments, and its sacred writ- 
ings, containing many of the earliest revelations, are 
now again bearing witness to the truth of historical 
Christianity, and reaffirming the revelations of the 
Old and New Testaments, after they had ah-eady 
been classed among " Myths ;" the land, of which all 
antiquity, from the days of Homer, speaks with the 
highest reverence; whither the Sages of Greece and 
of Italy went to prosecute their studies ; which has 
erected the greatest structures of the world, the 



10 INTRODUCTION. 



Pyramids, the Catacombs, the Osimandyeum, the 
colossal speaking-statue of Memnon ; the land, whose 
monuments, although in ruins, still cover the whole 
valley of the Nile, the Oases, and the coasts of the 
Red Sea, and which still lives, and will continue to 
live in a million of minor relics of antiquity ? There 
is not, upon the whole surface of the globe, a land 
that can boast an antiquity like that of Egypt. Its 
written monuments alone are so numerous that a 
hundred folio volumes would not suffice to contain 
them. And here^'we see the reason, why, since the 
beginning of the present century, all the enlightened 
countries of Europe have vied with each other in 
obtaining possession of Egyptian antiquities. Mu- 
seums of this kind are already found in nearly every 
city of importance ; in Turin, Rome, Florence, Naples, 
Pisa, Milan, Palermo, Venice, Berlin, Vienna, Frank- 
fort, Prague, Dresden, Munich, Leyden, the Hague, 
Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Paris, Lyons, 
London, Oxford, Cambridge, the monuments in all 
of which, with scarcely any exception, I have ex- 
amined and transcribed. — A collection of this kind 
is at present also, but perhaps for a short time 
only, in New- York. I refer to the collection of Dr. 
Abbott, which was brought together at Cairo, during 
a space of twenty years, with much labor and great 
expense. All well-educated inhabitants of New- York 
know as well as myself, and perhaps better, although 
I have, during thirty-two years, devoted myself al- 
most exclusively to this department of science, and 



[NTRODUCTION. 11 



written upon it many a book, as the Astor-library 
will bear witness, what a treasure of science lies 
buried in this collection of Egyptian antiquities. 
A number of friends have, however, repeatedly re- 
quested me to deliver before an assembly of scho- 
lars, several lectures upon this Museum, and upon 
Egyptian antiquities in general, ere I take my de- 
parture to my place of destination. Although deep- 
ly sensible what an unpleasant impression will be 
left by these lectures, I felt constrained, in the end, 
to assent to these repeated and ufgent solicitations. 
I design, therefore, as well as I am able, and in re- 
liance upon your indulgence to present in the first 
instance a general view of the whole collection, and 
then to offer some observations upon a number of 
more particularly noteworthy objects. 

Dr. Abbott's Museum contains mpre than 2000 
monuments of Egyptian Antiquity, or objects found 
in Egypt. It is, therefore, not so rich as the Turin 
Museum, the first and most important in the world, 
and containing 100,000 Egyptian monuments ; but 
it possesses several specimens of nearly all Egyp- 
tian Antiquities now known, and besides, a large 
number of such as are exceedingly rare, and even 
several that had previously been entirely unknown. 
Among these are a wooden tablet with a demotic 
inscription, accompanied by a Greek translation, and 
a new bi-lingual inscription ; a small Rosetta inscrip- 
tion ; four copies of the ancient sacred writings of 
the Egyptians on papyrus, in hieroglyphics and in 



12 INTRODUCTION. 



the hieratic character ; several legal documents on 
papyrus and in the demotic character, accompanied, 
to some extent, with a Greek text ; several Greek 
papyri and wooden tablets ; one papyrus with astro- 
nomical observations ; a Gnostic seal or signet-stone 
with three Coptic and Greek inscriptions, being the 
most remarkable Abraxas extant ; a gold finger-ring, 
having on it the name of Cheops, who built the great 
pyramid near Ghizeh ; a. gold neck-chain inscribed 
with the name of Menes Athothis, 2781 years be- 
fore Christ, in th^ time of Pheleg, 666 years after 
the flood, several bricks from the time of Moses, 
with the impress of the seal of Pharaoh Ameno- 
phis ; three mummies of Apis-Bulls ; two marble ves- 
sels, with the number of cans and buckets which they 
will hold marked upon them. Among the articles 
of porcelain, a learned gentleman of New- York, Mr. 
Edwin Smith, who has, for many years past, devoted 
himself to the profound study of this branch of 
science, discovered the signet-ring of the high-priest 
Ahabanuk, the same man who was the owner of the 
largest papyrus in the world, measuring 57 feet in 
length, being the most complete copy of the sacred 
books of Egypt, and known by the name of " The 
book of the Dead," in the Turin Museum. — Thus are 
antiquities, long since parted from each other, with 
4000 mijes between them, brought together again. 
The antiquities in Dr. Abbott's Museum comprise 
six distinct classes : historical, sacred or religious, 
statistical, civil, artistic and scientific To the histo- 



INTRODUCTION. 13 



rical class belong all those monuments which contain 
the names of kings, priests and private men, they be- 
long to that great period which extends from Menes, 
the first king of Egypt, 2781 B. C, or 66Q years after 
the flood, to the reign of Constantine the Great, and 
even still farther down to the time of the earlier 
Christian Convents. Among other names we find 
here those of the Pharaohs, Menes-Athothis, 2780 
B. C; Apophis 2212 B. C, during whose reign Joseph 
was sold into Egypt ; Thuthmosis the first, during 
whose reign occurred the exodus (departure) of the 
Hebrews, 1867 B. C; the later kings of the XYIIIth 
and subsequent dynasties, Amenophis I. II. and IV., 
Thuthmosis II. III.; Ramses, the son of the sovereign 
who built the celebrated Osimandyeum, 1649 B. C; 
Ramses II. and IV.; Cheops, who built the great 
pyramid 1100 B. C, Shishak, Thiraka, Hophra, Psa- 
metichus, Boccharis, Ptolemy III. and IV., and 
others, of whom several are mentioned in the Old 
Testament. Among the things connected with par- 
ticular history are a great number of historical statues 
and stelae or tomb-stones. 

Still more numerous are the sacred monuments. 
The most important of these are three long rolls of 
papyrus respectively 22, 23 and 36 feet in length, and 
containing later copies of the very oldest religious 
books of the country. Thus also the religious ideas, 
the sacred usages and the deities of the Egyptians 
are found represented upon several stelge and smaller 
rolls of papyrus. To these are to be added a very 



14 INTRODUCTION. 



great number of statues and statuettes of the divini- 
ties, sacred animals, plants, vessels and furniture. 

To the statistical antiquities belong several demotic 
and Greek papyri, which throw light upon the laws, 
courts of justice, officials and subjects of a kindred 
nature. 

The collection is particularly rich in objects per- 
taining to civil and domestic life, upon which Wil- 
kinson wrote his excellent work, entitled : *• Manners 
and Customs of the ancient Egyptians." Here are 
found garments of every description and articles of 
ornament ; such as mantles or cloaks, ordinary clothes, 
aprons, boots, shoes, sandals, finger-rings, signet-stones 
with or without settings, ear-rings, ear-pendants, neck- 
chains, bracelets and anklets, nets, knitted articles, 
embroideries, pettorali, canes. To the temple and 
household furniture belong door-frames, pieces of 
temple-sculptures, bricks stamped with royal seals, 
altars, vessels for libations, censers, tables, chairs, foot- 
stools, pillows, chests, baskets, vessels, and utensils of 
all sorts from the largest down to the smallest, 
such as flagons, drinking-horns, cups, spoons, knives, 
forks, lamps, mirrors, combs, brushes, brooms, colan- 
ders, stamps, wagons, weights, spindles, cords, ropes, 
needles, hatchets, hoes, hammers, writing-materials, 
sistra (metallic rattles), checker-boards, toys, many 
kinds of fruit and grain, fig-bread, eggs, which are 
probably 3000 years old. 

Of weapons of war there are clubs, battle-axes, 



INTRODUCTION. 15 



daggers, bows, arrows, helmets, coats of mail, and 
surgical instruments. 

How admirably the Egyptians understood the art, 
already mentioned by Herodotus, of preserving dead 
bodies, is here shown by several human mummies in 
their ornamented saxcophagi and cerements, many 
separate parts of these^ the mummies of apis-bulls, 
crocodiles, sacred cats, ibises, sparrow-hawks, serpents 
and beetles. 

The higher arts and sciences of the ancient Egyp- 
tians are mirrored in nearly all the objects contained 
in the Museum. We here see how they wrote, drew, 
painted and chiselled, how they formed out of metals, 
stones, clay or wood, all sorts of human and animal 
representations or images, elevated or depressed, sta- 
tues and statuettes, busts and limbs. Nearly all 
these antiquities are, at the same time, monuments 
of language of the most varied description ; for near- 
ly all of them contain Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demo- 
tic, Coptic, Greek, Cufic, Assyrian and Chinese inscrip- 
tions. To the scientific class belong also the astrono- 
mical monuments. 

The materials, of which these have been made, are 
gold, silver, bronze, iron, steel, lead, litharge, enamel, 
granite, basalt, marble, limestone, greenstone, lapis 
lazuli, cornelian, agate, glass, porcelain-clay, Nile-mud, 
mineral-colors, leather, ivory, horn, wool, mother of 
pearl, silk- threads ; the sycamore, the juniper-tree, 
the wood of which is now used for making lead-pen- 



16 



INTRODUCTION 



cils, the willow, gum, wax, the papyrus-plant, byssus, 
flax, reed. 

As respects their artistic value, it must be admitted, 
that all these objects are far inferior to nearly all 
Grecian and Roman antiquities ; they are, as every 
body will perceive, very uniform, ugly and dirty ; and 
yet, to them that significant passage is applicable : 
" I am black, but comely, ye daughters of Jerusa- 
lem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solo- 
mon." — The value of the entire aggregate of Egyp- 
tian antiquities consists, not in their forms, but in 
what they tell us and reveaj. to us. Each separate ob- 
ject is here an embodiment of truths ; it is necessary 
only to lend a listening ear, in order to call them back 
to life. With every scarabgeus which the inquirer 
takes into his hand, whole series of conceptions and- 
ideas are connected ; nay, these are inseparable from 
that object, so long as it has not become dust. — How 
much more emphatically is this true of entire papy- 
rus-rolls and inscriptions that have come down to us 
from a period that reaches much farther back than 
the Old Testament, and concerning which no other 
nation has left us any scientific legacy. In a museum, 
like Dr. Abbott's, slumber w^hole series of volumes, 
yet to be written, and even after hundreds of years it 
will furnish matter of reflection, inquiry and criticism. 

But it will be asked, of what use can this old 
rubbish be to us ? This question may be answered in 
these words : " Man liveth not by bread alone." — 
Besides the bread that nourishes the body, human 



INTRODUCTION. 17 



society requires a variety of intellectual nourishment, 
without which men would deteriorate and become 
like unto brute beasts. This intellectual food of the 
whole world and of all futurity, is, in its widest sense 
called science. There is not any new, real truth, that 
does not exert an influence upon our purposes and 
actions, our pursuits and general conduct. And thus 
also Egyptian antiquity, which Providence has ^^re- 
served during so many thousand years, and is now at 
last beginning to disclose to our view, will bear its 
fruits, and contribute to the increase of those intel- 
lectual stores, that furnish aliment to all the world. 
What scientific truths, and how many will, in the 
course of time, be brought to light by means of Egyp- 
tian antiquities, no man can determine beforehand, 
as we have advanced no farther than the vestibule. 
When that Dutch boy, while playing with spectacle- 
glasses, discovered the astromical telescope, nobody 
could yet conjecture, that by means of that same 
telescope thirty new planets, innumerable comets, 
satellites, the rings of Saturn with the water on the 
inner side, the binary stars, the stars of the nebulae, 
&c., would afterwards be discovered. — When the 
youth who attended to the steering of the first steam- 
engine discovered the steering-wheel, in consequence 
of fastening his line to the lever, it did not yet enter 
any one's mind that this steam-engine would, some 
fifty years later, propel whole fleets of ships, and 
trains of railway-cars. When, at Gottingen, Profes- 
sors Gaus and Weber extended two wires from the 



18 INTRODUCTION. 



cabinet for the apparatus of natural philosophy to 
the Observatory, across streets and church-steeples, 
for the purpose of establishing a telegraph, until, 
struck by lightening, it scorched the dresses of the 
ladies who were passing beneath, nobody yet so much 
as dreamed, that the same wire would, thirty years 
later, spread a speaking-net over the whole of Europe 
and America. Equally important results may even- 
tually accrue to us from the vast scientific legacy 
bequeathed to us by ancient Egypt ; and therefore 
no man is justifii3d in prematurely condemning it as 
worthless. Even now it has brought to light truths 
of the highest moment and influence. It has, for 
example, been very generally doubted hitherto, 
whether, since the days of Adam and Seth, there 
has been any primeval revelation, which was trans- 
mitted through Enoch and Noah, to all the descen- 
dants of the latter. It is only the sacred books of the 
ancient Egyptians that have furnished the proof of 
this. — Since the destruction of Jerusalem it has been 
a subject of controversy in the christian church, 
whether the Hebrew text or the Greek translation, 
i. e. the Septuagint, contained the true chronology. 
But it is now ascertained, that a certain Akiba, 
(Aquila), as was asserted already by Arabian writers 
and several church-fathers, actually corrupted the 
Hebrew text, in order that the Messiah, whose ad- 
vent was promised to take place during the sixth 
year thousand [millennium] after the creation, might 
be waited for 1500 years longer than the appointed 



INTRODUCTION. 19 



time. — Many have hitherto believed, that the chro- 
nology of the Bible is discredited by Manetho and 
the Egyptian monuments. Now it is certainly known, 
that the two agree precisely, even to years and days, 
and that both place the creation and the deluge in 
the same years and upon the same days. — The sojourn 
of the Hebrews in Egypt was even regarded as a 
myth. Now it has been positively ascertained that 
Manetho's shepherd-kings (Hyksos) were the Hebrews, 
and that they established themselves in the land of 
Goshen in the year 2082 B. C. — Heretofore it has 
been maintained that the prophets and the chroni- 
clers had assigned an excess of, at least, four years 
to the Babylonian captivity. We now have proof posi- 
tive, that it really lasted seventy years and a few 
months. — It was formerly considered impossible to 
determine precisely the length of the cubit which 
served the Hebrews as their measure in the construc- 
tion of the tabernacle, the temples, and for the pur- 
pose of daily life. But now we know of a certain- 
ty, that Goliath did not measure in height more 
than 10 feet 8 inches English, and that Og's' bed- 
stead was only 17 feet 6 inches long. — Since the 
council of Nice all Christendom has been under the 
impression, that the Hebrews reckoned time since 
the days of MoseSj by lunar months. Now it has 
been demonstrated, that until after the destruction 
of Jerusalem they reckoned by a fixed solar-year, 
and always observed Easter at the vernal equinox, 
our 22d of March. — Nearly all historical text-books 



20 INTRODUCTION. 



at present affirm, that the chronology of the Christian 
era is incorrect, and that Christ was announced, born, 
baptized, crucified and raised from the dead in years 
and on days other, than those specified by the Evan- 
gelists. But now we know, on the contrary, that the 
whole Christian chronology is correct, that the days 
which mark epochs in the new dispensation are the 
same as those which were typically consecrated, under 
the old dispensation, through the construction and 
dedication of the Tabernacle, of Solomon's, of Zerub- 
babel's and of Herod's temple. Our Dionysian era 
or reckoning commenced with the year nought '^ 
hence the current year is the 1858th after the birth 
of our Lord, and the current century began on the 
first of January, not of 1801, but 1800, as is stated 
already in the still extant Easter-canon of Dionysius 
Exiguus. — It has been asserted, in numberless books, 
that the Deluge was only partial. It has now been 
positively ascertained that it was universal, and that 
it terminated on the 7th of Sept. 3-147 B. C. — It is 
currently maintained that our Alphabet was not in- 
vented until 1500 B. C. by the Phoenicians. Now it 
has been clearly proved that there have existed an 
alphabet and books since the time of Seth, as early 
2400 years before the deluge ; that all the alphabets 
in the world had their origin from one and the same 
primitive alphabet ; that our alphabet was trans- 
mitted through Noah, and so arranged as to express the 
places of the seven planets in the Zodiac at the ter- 
mination of the Deluge, Sept. 7th, 3447, B. C. — Accord- 



INTRODUCTION. 21 



ing to a very generally received opinion, the hiero- 
glyphics of the Egyptians, or the cuneiform character 
of the Persians, Medes and Assyrians was the first of 
all written characters ; now it is ascertained, that all 
these and similar written characters have the Noa- 
chian alphabet of 25 letters for their basis. — Hither- 
to a great number of Indomaniacs have maintained, 
that the original language had been the Indo-Ger- 
manic, a sort of Sanscrit. Now it is known, that all 
the languages in the world are derived from the He- 
brew original language, as the very names of the ante- 
diluvian letters among the different nations, and the 
language of the ancient Egyptians prove. — According 
to Letronne and others, our Zodiac had its origin only 
600 years B. C. Now we know, that it is as old as 
the human race, and that it passed through Noah to 
all the nations of his posterity. — All the world has 
hitherto believed, that the ancient nations worshipped 
nothing but dumb idols, stars, animals, plants and the 
like. Now we know, that they all had more or less 
faithfully preserved the original revelations, that next 
to the Creator of all things they worshipped his ser- 
vants, more exalted creatures, intermediate between 
God and man, and that they lapsed only in later times 
into downright idolatry. The seven Cabiri, chief gods 
of all the ancient nations, were not symbols of deified 
powers of nature, but emblems of the seven planets, 
which were thought to be the bodies of the seven arch- 
angels. The twelve superior gods of all the ancient na- 
tions had reference to the twelve constellations of the 



^- 



22 INTRODUCTION. 



Zodiac, these being regarded as tlie abodes, or the 
bodies of the second class of those who ministered to 
God. — Hitherto it has been supposed, that the earliest 
and innumeral astronomical observations of the an- 
cient Egyptians, referred to already by Diodorus Sicu- 
lus, had utterly disappeared from the sphere of human 
knowledge. Now we know that several hundreds of 
them, extending down to the Roman emperors, and 
back to Menes, 2781 B. C. have been preserved upon 
the pyramids, in temples, on sarcophagi, stelfe and 
papyrus-rolls. It is only by means of these astrono- 
mical observations, being mathematically sure and 
reliable, instituted upon the occurrence of important 
events, and at the birth of the Pharaohs, that, because 
none of these planetary configurations can occur 
twice in history, and similar ones only after intervals 
of 2146 years, the entire history of Egypt has been 
reduced to order. The first twelve Dynasties of Mane- 
tho and several others, reigned not in succession, but 
synchronously in different provinces. Fourteen pla- 
netary configurations prove, that Menes did not take 
possession of Mizraim (i. e. Egypt), until 2781 B. C. 
during the life of Phaleg, 666 years after the deluge. 
Moses, whose planetary configuration is mentioned by 
Josephus, by the Rabbis and even in the Old Testa- 
ment, was born under the 17th Dynasty 1948 B. C. — 
It has, heretofore been believed, that the Greeks 
never observed planetary configurations, or at least 
preserved no record of them ; now a great number 
of them, going back to the year 778 B. C, expressed 



INTRODUCTION. 23 



precisely like those of the Egyptians, and preserved 
upon their temples, statues. Etrurian vases, and in 
the works of authors, have come to light ; and thus 
we are enabled to determine the dates of the events 
connected with them, with mathematical certainty. 
Hitherto it was the opinion of all the world, that the 
Greeks reckoned by lunar months ; now it is made 
manifest, that they had accurately determined solar 
months, which corresponded with those of the He- 
brews and other nations ; and by means of which the 
dates occurring in Grecian history can be determined 
to the very day. — In times past, men believed that 
the Romans had never observed planetary configura- 
tions. It is now ascertained, that the Lectisternia of 
Livy ; the Aras, Candelabra, lamps, temple-friezes, 
and walls in Pompeii contain such observations, stated 
in the same manner as by the Egyptians ; and thus 
the dates of all the events of Roman history are fixed 
with more than historical certainty. — Hitherto the 
whole christian and enlightened world has, since the 
publication in 1627, of the Doctrina temporum of 
Petavius, been convinced, that his chronology and 
history of the Romans, Greeks, Persians and other 
nations, as repeated in millions of books, even in 
Clinton's Fasti Hellenici and Romani, were correct. 
Now it is ascertained, that Petavius and his copiers 
have incorrectly inserted the Consules sufiecti 47 and 
78- after the birth of Christ, and have thus antedated 
the wJiole Roman and Grecian history down to Titus 
by one and respectively two years. The assassination 



24 INTRODUCTION. 



of Caesar occurred not 44, but 42 B. C, and the Olym- 
piads began not 776 but 774 B. C. — Hitherto all men 
believed, that the historical Canon of Ptolemy was 
infallible, because Babylonian observations of eclipses 
of the moon are connected with certain years in the 
reigns of his sovereigns ; it is now known for certain, 
that Ptolemy fixed these eclipses only by means of 
calculations, and that, in almost every instance, he 
calculated wrong ones. And in this connection it 
has been demonstrated, that all our lunar tables, as 
was known alre'ady by the total eclipse of the sun in 
Germany, 1851, are constructed upon the false state- 
ments of Ptolemy ; hence that they assume, as their 
basis, an incorrect mean motion of the moon and of 
the moon's nodes ; as also a wrong coefficient of the 
secular equation, and that, therefore, they require to 
be rectified throughout. These corrections can be 
easily made by means of the total eclipses of the sun, 
found in the history of Bome, Greece and other na- 
tions. The same is to be said of our planetary tables 
hitherto in use, which are also based upon the state- 
ments of Ptolemy. For in Egypt there have been 
found a vast number of the recorded observations of 
the position of planets, many of which extend back 
8000 years earlier than Ptolemy's day, and serve for the 
the correction of our planetary tables. — Hitherto it has 
been a universally received opinion, that those ages of 
the Bomans, the Greeks, the Parsees and others, in which 
Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter reigned, were mere fables. 
Now it has become manifest, that these ages of the 



INTKODUCTION. 26 



world were periods of 2146 years, during which the 
ec[uinoctial point runs exactly through a sign of the 
Zodiac. At the beginning of each one of these ages 
the ancients observed and recorded the places of the 
seven planets, and thus it has been ascertained, that 
the first age of the world began 5871 B. C, on the 10th 
of May according to the Julian reckoning, on a Satur- 
day, being at the same time the vernal equinox. The 
day on which Christ rose from the dead was the same 
on which the creation of the world was completed, 
after the first week of history. Thus we have a 
confirmation of the true chronology of the Bible, 
which begins with the Sunday of the vernal equinox 
5871 B. C. — Thirty years ago half the world believed 
that the lesser Zodiac of Dendera, at Paris, was really, 
as calculations had been made to prove, 17000 years 
old, and that the Creation and the Deluge were mere 
fictions. Now we know, that upon that stone the pla- 
netary configuration that occurred at the birth of 
Nero, 37 A. C, is inscribed. — These are some of the 
scientific results which Egyptian Antiquity has al- 
ready produced, and is likely to continue to bring to 
light. And surely no one who examines the Egyptian 
antiquities, will, upon leaving the Museum, now give 
his assent to the words which some former visitor 
wrote in Dr. Abbott's register at New- York: "The 
greatest humbug," but will, in his heart, join in the 
words of Solomon : " they are black, but very comely, 
ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar." 



26 PAPYRUS-SCROLLS. 



I. THE PAPYRUS-SCROLLS OF THE ANCIENT 
EGYPTIANS, HEBREWS, GREEKS AND RO- 
MANS. 

The first place in every Egyptian Museum is due 
to the papyrus-scrolls. How were these scrolls, from 
one to sixty feet in length, produced ? When we com- 
pare our fine, smooth, white paper, with this yellow, 
ugly, wrinkled rag, we are apt to smile in pity ; and 
yet, had the Egyptians written on our beautiful paper, 
not one line of their literature would have attained 
the age of 4000 years, nay, there would perhaps be 
very little left of the entire literature of the Greeks 
and Romans. These rolls of papyrus, then, the 
same as those which Vesuvius buried, for 1700 years, 
in Herculaneum, beneath ashes and streams of lava ; 
those rolls, on which Cicero's and Plato's letters were 
traced, and which have preserved for us the most 
ancient manuscript-copies of the Old and New Testa- 
ments, and of the Gothic translation of the Bible; 
on which Moses, 3700 years ago, inscribed the law 
and the prophets recorded the Word of God — how . 
were they produced ? 

The aquatic plant, called papyrus, i. e, the royal or 
noble plant, has now entirely disappeared from Egypt, 
and is found only in Sicily, Syria and in botanic gardens. 
From a root of the thickness of an arm shoot up long 
stalks from two to four inches thick, which grow to a 
height of from eight to sixteen feet. The head or 



PAPYRUS-SCROLLS. 27 



crown of this straight, trilateral shaft, which tapers 
but slightly towards the top, is formed by a great 
number of short branches, from the upper part of 
each of which three long and very narrow leaves are 
suspended. Underneath the thin green rind or shell, 
there is, from the root to the crown, a white pith, through 
which run threads, or woody fibres, which pierce 
it longitudinally. This pith, which resembles that 
of several trees, especially of the elder, is the material 
of which the paper of the ancients was prepared.* 
When we examine an Egyptian papyrus by holding 
it against the light, we discover that the woody fibres 
run horizontally as well as vertically, and that the 
two layers were cemented together by means of gum. 
In order to produce a roll of paj)yrus, the following 
processes were found necessary. First, the green rind 
or bark of several stalks was pealed off; thereupon 
the stalks were cut into cylinders of equal length, and 
these were then, by means of a very sharp knife, 
divided into very thin strips, slices or ribbons. Of 
these strips a number were now laid vertically against 
each other, so that each overlapped the other by the 
twelfth part of an inch. After this first layer had 
been moistened with gum-water, another layer of such 
strips was, in like manner, laid horizontally across it ; 
and then both layers were pressed, dried and polished. 

* See Naumann's Serapeum. Leipsic, 1842. Feb. 15, p. 33, with 
my treatise : " Ueber das Papier der Alten, nach Plinius und der Papy- 
russtaude iia botanischen Garten zu Leipzig," with representations of 
the papyrus-plant. 



28 PAPYRUS-SCROLLS. 



Thus one leaf of paper was completed. By joining 
together several leaves and uniting their edges with 
gum, a roll of papyrus, or what we would call a book, 
is produced of any required length. 

It would appear, that Pliny never saw the papyrus- 
plant, which accounts for his incorrect description of 
the paper of the Ancients. That I have correctly 
described the process, will become evident upon the 
examination of any papyrus ; and I have placed this 
beyond all doubt, by myself producing from papyrus- 
stalks, obtained in botanical gardens, a great number 
of papyri exactly like those of the ancient Egyptians 
and those found in Herculaneum. No paper in the 
world is as durable as this. In many Museums we find 
rolls that are more than 3000 years old, and which 
can still be unrolled and rolled up without the least 
injury. 

The ink of the Egyptians was not made of the 
gall ate of iron, which would have turned yellow very 
soon ; it was Indian ink, pulverized charcoal mixed 
with gum ; hence their writing has remained black 
and glossy down to the present day. The titles as 
well as the first words of chapters were written with 
red ink, as is still the case among the Copts, the 
descendants of the ancient Egyptians, and among the 
Ethiopians. The black ink was prepared out of the 
bark of the papyrus-plant, which, owing to the great 
quantity of siliceous earth which it contains, yields 
an excellent black for writing. 

For the purpose of writing, or rather drawing let- 



PAPYRUS-SCROLLS. 29 



ters. the Egyptians did not make use of goose-quills, 
steel or reed-pens, but of the branches mentioned 
above, as forming the crown of the papyrus-plant. 
These also contain pith and many of the woody fibres 
before spoken of; by sharpening one of these at one 
end, it was formed into a pencil or brush, which did 
not, however, take up much ink, so that, as the written 
lines plainly show, it was necessary to dip into it very 
often. Thus the remarkable papyrus-plant alone fur- 
nished everything which the Egyptians required for 
the ordinary purposes of writing. 

The manner in which their writing-materials were 
arranged is shown by many specimens in all Egyptian 
Museums, and also in Dr. Abbott's. They consist of 
tablets of wood, furnished with two cavities which 
contained the black and the red ink, and with a little 
sliding drawer, in which the small papyrus branches, 
used for writing, were kept. Similar apparatuses for 
writing are also found, made of marble or ivory. 
These were worn by the sacred writers in the girdle, 
just as the Orientals, who are able to write, still carry 
their writing-materials about with them in the girdle. 

The Egyptian papyri are to be distinguished under 
the three heads of Hieroglyphic, Hieratic and Demo- 
tic or Enchorial writings. The word hieroglyphics 
denotes the sacred character ; for the word is formed 
of lepog, sacred, and yXvepeiv, to engrave. Hieratic is 
derived from the word lepevg, priest, and hence the 
hieratic character denotes that used in ordinary by 
the priests. Demotic, derived from the word (J^jt^o^, 



80 PAPYRUS-SCIiOLLS. 



people, designates the character in use among the 
common people. The same character the Rosetta 
stone designates as the enchorial, from the Greek 
kyX(^ptogy indigenous, national. These three differ- 
ent characters or modes of writing grew the one out 
of the other. The hieroglyphic is the most ancient ; 
from it proceeded the hieratic, by abbreviating the 
signs, because it required too much time to draw, in 
every instance, the entire images or figures. Indeed, 
the hieratic papyri and inscriptions do not reach back 
as far as the hieroglyphic. The demotic character is 
the hieratic abbreviated and simplified to the utmost, 
because, as in the former instance, the hieratic 
required too much time and labor. The demotic 
writings do not reach farther back than the sixth 
century B. C In what manner the hieroglyphic signs 
were abbreviated, first into the hieratic and then into 
the demotic will be readily perceived upon comparing 
the same words and letters written in hieroglyphics, 
in the hieratic and in the demotic character; for 
instance : — 

3^4 tY? ^:^ — ** 

All the three cnaracters are written from the 
right to the left, as were the letters of nearly all 
the nations of antiquity. Only the Hieroglyphics 
were, for the sake of symmetry, sometimes written 
also in the opposite direction. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 31 

II. THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Now, in what manner did the ancient Egyptians 
express their conceptions and thoughts by means of 
these three written characters ? In what manner are 
we to proceed in order to discover anew the laws, 
according to which the ancient Egyptians expressed 
conceptions and thoughts ; and what is the true key 
to the hieroglyphics ? This is a question, upon the 
solution of which depends the restoration to life of 
the entire and immeasurable literature of the ancient 
Egyptians, the oldest and perhaps the most important 
literature of the ancient world. — With the introduc- 
tion of the Greek language and written character in 
Egypt since Alexander the Great (330 B. C), and 
especially since the translation of the 0. and N. T. 
into the Coptic, by means of the Greek alphabet, the 
art of reading hieroglyphics was gradually lost. The 
last instance of a hieroglyphic translation occurred in 
the reign of Augustus. This emperor caused the large 
obelisk, which, bearing an inscription of twelve long 
hieroglyphic lines, has since been erected again at the 
Porta del popolo, to be brought to Rome ; and the in- 
scriptions upon it were, as we read in Ammianus Mar- 
cellinus, translated into Greek by an Egyptian priest, 
named Hermapion.* Since that time, however, the 

* Ammianus Marcellinus L. XVII. p. 92. " Verhandlungen dcr er- 
sten Versammlung deutscherund auslandisher Orientalisten." Leipsic, 
1845.; with my treatise : " Bemerkungen liber die neue Hieroglyphen- 
inschrift mit griechischer Uebersetzung auf dem Obelisken an der Porta 
del popolo in Rom." 



82 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

key to the LieroglypMcs has been, in some degree, 
preserved and transmitted to us, in the new-fashioned 
hieroglyphics, in the so-called Rebus. These Rebus 
express syllables by means of pictures, and are still 
called hieroglyphics in Italy, France, Germany and 
elsewhere. 

The true key to the hieroglyphics would, probably, 
have never been discovered again, had not several 
hieroglyphic inscriptions accompanied with a Greek 
translation been found from time to time. First 
Bonaparte found in 1799 the Rosetta-stone (now in 
the British Museum) with hieroglyphic and demotic 
text, besides a Greek translation on the base ; this 
was not published until 1812. — In 1824, Young, Profes- 
sor Spohn, my instructor at Leipsic, and Kosegarten, 
discovered the Greek translation of two demotic pa- 
pyri in Berlin and Paris. In the year 1826 I found 
at Turin the Original, but unfortunately incomplete 
papyrus of Manetho's work on Egyptian history, and 
in the same year, at Rome, on the Porta del popolo, 
the obelisk translated for Augustus by the priest 
Hermapion. In 1848 I found the translation of the 
ancient Table of Abydos, (now in the British Museum), 
preserved by Eratosthenes. In 1849 Lepsius publish- 
ed six inscriptions containing the hieroglyphic names 
of the 86 Decani (wardens of the Zodiac), known 
Irom Greek and Roman authors, and written in differ- 
ent ways ; according to Champollion's system these 
proper names could not be read at all. In 1849 
Brugsch discovered the gate of Phila3, with its trans- 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 33 

lation on the Rosetta-stone. In 1855 I found the 
translation of the Table of Karnak, in the fragments 
which we possess of Eratosthenes and Manetho. To 
these must be added several old Egyptian papyrus- 
rolls and mummy-chests with Greek translations of 
some proper names to be found at Turin, Berlin, Ley- 
den, St. Petersburg, in Dr. Abbott's Museum in New- 
York and in other collections. By means of these 
numerous bi-lingual inscriptions the true key to the 
hieroglyphics, which had been sought after during 
1800 years, was again brought to light. The key to 
the hieroglyphics is, of course, the fundamental law 
of the Egyptian written character, an acquaintance 
with which law will enable any man to read whatever 
text he pleases, and to find the same meaning which 
the writer intended to convey. 

The first question that here presents itself, is : in 
what language did the ancient Egyptians write f 

This was, of course, the Coptic ; for the Copts, the 

Christian inhabitants of Egypt, are the descendants 

of the ancient Egyptians, and Coptus is simply the 

word ^gyptus minus the initial syllable ^^ which 

was dropped in later times. The later Coptic must, 

however, have differed somewhat from the ancient 

Coptic, which is 2000 years older ; for, no language 

remains unchanged during a period of 2000 years. 

Now, it has been ascertained, that the ancient Coptic 

was far more nearly related to the ancient Hebrews 

or Chaldee, than to any other language in the world ; 

that a great many grammatical forms, and nearly all 
2* 



84 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Coptic roots are derived from the original Clialdee. 
This is not surprising ; for there was an original lan- 
guage ; and this was not, as the Indomaniacs main- 
tain, the modern and highly cultivated Sanscrit, but, 
as can be easily proved, the Hebrew, which bears so 
unmistakably the stamp of antiquity. Experience 
has shown, that a nation will, in the progress of cen- 
turies, make but a few and unimportant changes in 
its original language, if it continues to inhabit the 
same country, under the same circumstances, within 
the same surroundings. — Now we know, that with 
Abraham, 1150 years after the flood, 484 years after 
Phaleg, during whose life the Egyptians and all the 
other ancient nations emigrated from Babylonia, i. e. 
2781 B. C, the Hebrews left their original place of 
abode ; these Abrahamidse spoke Hebrew, and con- 
sequently this same language must have been indige- 
nous in Chaldgea. But as Menes also came from Chal- 
da3a, only 484 years before Abraham; the ancient 
Egyptian language must be most intimately related 
to the Hebrew. Furthermore, it is known, that all 
the ancient languages, not only the Semitic, but also 
the Japhetic, have, in numberless forms and roots, a 
close affinity to the Hebrew ; among these ancient 
languages are the Greek, the German, the Sanscrit, 
the Parsee and others. From this it follows again, 
that the original language was the ancient Chaldee. 
The same is proved by the names of the letters : Al- 
pha, Beta, Gamma, &c. For all the alphabets in the 
world are derived from one original alphabet, and this 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 3b 

was preserved and handed down by Noah. The He- 
breeo-Chaldee letters are pictures with Hebrew names. 
Aleph, for instance, is the Hebrew name of the bull ; and 
of this animal the letter Aleph, the Alpha of the Greeks, 
is the picture ; and so on.* The same names of the let- 
ters we find more or less distinctly preserved among such 
ancient nations even as differ most from each other ; 
for instance, the Greeks and Hebrews ; consequently 
their original language also must have been the Chal- 
dee. Had not the Chaldee been the mother of the 
Greek language, the Greeks would certainly not have 
designated their letters by foreign Chaldaic, entirely 
unintelligible names. Lastly, the alphabet of Noah, 
arranged at the time of the deluge, contains within 
itself, as has come to light twenty years ago, an inscrip- 
tion, and this inscription is Hebrew.f In short, the 
language of the ancient Egyptians was primarily con- 
nected with the Chaldaic original language. But 
this ancient Coptic language was far from differing 
as much from the later or present Coptic, as does the 
ancient Greek from the modern Greek, the Latin 
from the Italian. 

But our next inquiry now is, what is the first prin- 
ciple, the fundamental law, which constitutes the key 
to the entire literature of the ancient Egyptians ? 
This key is so simple, that it is a matter of surprise, 
how it could have remained concealed for 1800 years ; 

* Seyffarth, De sonis literarum Graecorum, cet. Lips. 1824.; Alpha- 
beta genuina. Lips. 1840. 

t Unser Alphabet ein Abbild des Thierkreiscs, cet. Leipz. 1834. 



36 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

but it is a common experience, that the world seeks 
afar off, what is close at hand ; and often regards its 
most unlikely conclusions as the most probable. Let 
us look at the subject for a moment. 

In the immense mass of Egyptian inscriptions and 
papyri there occur not more than 630 different hiero- 
glyphics.* Now, if with each figure the Egyptians 
had expressed one whole word, as is generally believ- 
ed even now, they would have known and employed, 
within 3000 years, not more than 630 words. And 
surely no sane man will believe this of a people, to 
whom Homer, Plato and Herodotus assign so high a 
rank. They certainly must have had at least as many 
conceptions or ideas as the Copts and the Hebrews ; 
and therefore at least 6000 words. 

Now if, in order to express symbolically 6000 words 
by 600 figures the Egyptians had assigned to each 
hieroglyphic ten distinct meanings, they would never 
have been able to understand their own writings a 
second time. A hieroglyphic inscription of such a 
character, and consisting of 200 figures would be sus- 
ceptible of 20,000 different translations ; and yet Her- 
mapion was able to translate for Augustus an obelisk 
1700 years old, and that in precisely the same manner 
in which the Rosetta-inscription has been translated. 
There must have been, therefore, a definite, permanent 
and simple key. The hieroglyphic character cannot 
have been symbolical. 

All antiquity, as, for instance, Josephus, the Koran, 

* Gramraatica .ilgyptiaca, cet. Gotha, 1855. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 37 

the New Testament, the Hindoos, the Chaldteans, the 
Phoenicians, and others, testify, that within the 2424 
years from Adam to Noah, alphabets and books 
existed, and that the sciences originated with Seth. 
The same nations, and to specify persons, we may 
name Sanchunjathon, Berosus and others, expressly 
affirm, that the original alphabet was handed down, 
and newly arranged by Noah. Now, if the Egyptians 
had cast away this glorious invention of a simple 
alphabet, in order to introduce a system of such a 
Cimmerian symbolic writing, they would have taken 
an insane backward stride, and put nonsense in the 
place of sense. 

The original alphabet transmitted by Noah com- 
prised, as a comparison of all the ancient alphabets 
shows, twenty-five letters with seven vowels, and be- 
gan with al)G and so on.^ The same alphabet form- 
ed, a^ Plutarch and others affirm, the basis of the 
hieroglyphics ; for the ancient Egyptians also had 
an alphabet of only twenty-five letters, inclusive of 
seven vowels ; and their alphabet began with a^ pre- 
cisely, as the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin, the East- 
Indian and others ; in short, all the alphabets of an- 
tiquity. Hence the hieroglyphics must also have had 
an alphabet of twenty-five letters for their basis. 

If we should assume that the Egyptians had at one 
time employed their 630 hieroglyphics symbolically, 
as representing words ; at another literally, as letters, 

* Unumstosslicher Beweis, cet. Leipz. 1839.; Alphabeta genuina ; 
p. 97. 



88 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

the absurdity of their method of writing would be 
reduced by one half; but then again we cannot com- 
prehend, why they should have mixed up together 
two entirely different systems, and devised, in the 
place of a clear and reliable method, one utterly ob- 
scure and uncertain. Add to this, that the symboli- 
cal interpretation of the hieroglyphics yields us no- 
thing but the greatest nonsense. From the inscription 
on the Rosetta-stone and other bi-lingual inscriptions 
we have ascertained, what ideas or conceptions are ex- 
pressed by certain hieroglyphics. The hatchet p, for 
example, denoted God ; according to all bi-lingual in- 
scriptions. But how can a hatchet, which might, at 
the utmost, perhaps, have symbolically expressed the 
act of hewing or splitting, in any intelligible manner 
denote God? The simple-minded Egyptians probably 
conceived their God Osiris to be a wood-cutter, or a 
butcher ! 

We learn from the Rosetta-inscription, that the 
Egyptians designated a burnt-offering by a well-buck- 
et £ . In all likelihood, therefore, the water of the 
Nile possessed at that time the properties of fire, and 
served for burning. 

The Egyptians expressed the number 10,000 by 
means of the drawing of a finger ^ ; doubtless be- 
cause, at that time, man possessed upon his hands and 
feet 10,000 fingers, which have gradually dropped off. 

When, finally, we examine the written characters 
of other ancient nations formerly connected with 
Egypt, we find that their method of writing was syl- 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 39 

labic. The written signs of the Chinese, numbering 
from 40 to 80,000, were, as I learned from Giitzlaif, who 
understood Chinese affairs better than any other Eu- 
ropean, not symbolic, but abbreviated syllabic hiero- 
glyphics. Thus, for example, they still designate the 
town Cassel by means of two figures, of which the 
first was called Cas, the second set. In like manner 
the groups of cuneiform characters employed by the 
Modes, the Assyrians and the Babylonians, denoted 
syllables, as has been shown in my Alphabeta Genuina, 
1840, and fully confirmed by Rawlinson. — Surely then, 
the Egyptians might also, with the aid of the ancient 
twenty-five articulate sounds, have invented a method 
of syllabic writing ; and that such is the case, has 
now been fully ascertained. An invention of this 
kind was, moreover, the most simple and the most like- 
ly to suggest itself. In the Noachian alphabet each 
pictured letter represents the sound with which the 
name of the picture commences. The letter Beth ^ 
is the picture of a bushel-measure, which the He- 
brews called Bath ; it therefore stands for B ; because 
the name of the picture begins with that consonant. 
And now, in order to obtain for the temple-walls, obe- 
lisks, stelse, and the purposes of writing in general, 
a shorter written character, it was determined to re- 
present by the picture of the measure called Bath, 
both the consonants which the name of that measure 
contains, and therefore to adopt the picture of the 
Bath-measure to designate the syllable B. T. The 
same remarks are applicable to many other Hebrew 



40 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

letters, which the Egyptians retained in their hiero- 
glyphic inscriptions. 

The key to the Hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, so 
long sought after, is then, briefly, this : It is the gene- 
ral principle, that every hieroglyphic represents the 
consonants^ contained in the name of the object of 
which the hieroglyphic is a picture. — As in Hebrew 
and in other Semitic languages, the vowels were com- 
monly left out of the account. 

And thus, then, the picture of the hatchet p, in 
Coptic hater ^ represented the word God, htor^ not sym- 
bolically, but because the two words contained the 
same consonants htr. 

Therefore, also, the well-bucket Mil ^, represented 
the word burnt-offering, Tialil, not symbolically, but 
because both words were formed by the same con- 
sonants Ml, 

Therefore the finger jf tba did not in a fanciful 
manner denote the number 10,000 tba, but because the 
same consonants ib were the basis of both words. 
The same is true of all the other 630 hieroglyphics of 
the ancient Egyptians; as my Grammatica ^gyptiaca 
shows. Sometimes combinations of two or three con- 
sonants were required, for which no picture represent- 
ing these consonants, thus combined, could be found 
in the Coptic; and. in such cases the word was ex- 
pressed in an alphabetic method ; each of its conso- 
nants was expressed by a figure, the name of which 
began with the sound which it was required to ex- 
press ; this was especially the case in respect to near- 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 41 

ly all proper names. Thus in the name, Ptolemy, 
^Tf f^ ^^^ A ) ^^6 ^ is represented by the picture 
of the Eath-measure, because the name of this mea- 
sure began with P or B. Yet even in the case of 
proper names syllabic hieroglyphics were often used. 
Thus the Rosetta-inscription expresses, by means of 
the gridiron kera, the syllable GIl in Graicos (Grae- 
cus) ff W y^ ^^ • Besides, the syllabic hierogly- 
phics are commonly distinguished from the alphabe- 
tic by adding the figure of a mount, which signifies 
"reduplication," like the Hebrew Dagesh forte. Thus 
then, the name of the king P — sarmis (old P — kamus) 
is expressed by the group ^ ^^ , because the lion's 
paw kom expressed hrn^ and the mount signifies the 
syllabic pronunciation of that hieroglyphic. 

There is not any hieroglyphic, which denotes sym- 
bolically any idea, or conception, or word ; there is 
not an inscription in existence, that has a single sym- 
bolical sign. The explanation of hieroglyphic inscrip- 
tions and papyri depends, therefore, no longer upon 
fanciful conjectures, in the employment of which 
every man would stumble upon a diff'erent meaning ; 
but it is subject, like every other oriental text, to 
philological laws. Even the figures or pictures em- 
ployed by the Egyptians to represent their gods, are 
not to be explained symbolically, but grammatically. 
Who is able to tell, with what rational design the 
Egyptians represented their Horus as a human being 
' ^ with the head of a sparrow ? How could they 
represent God by a sparrow-hawk, without be- 




42 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

ing laughed at by every schoolboy ? To explain this 
symbolically, is impossible ; but there is no difficulty in 
explaining it grammatically. The sparrow-hawk was 
called hor^ in the old Egyptian language Icor ; and 
therefore syllabically denoted Tcur^ i. e fcvpioc, herus, the 
German JJtrr, the Lord. The same is true of all other 
figures, by means of which the Egyptians represented 
their gods and their insignia 

But the question will be asked: how can it be prov- 
ed, that this syllabic principle furnishes the true key to 
the entire literature of the ancient Egyptians? We 
prove this, in the first place by the fact, that all students 
of Egyptian Antiquities have now, more or less avow- 
edly, accepted this principle. Among these we may 
name particularly Champollion himself in later times, 
Salvolini, Birch, Bunsen, Lepsius, De Rouge, Brugsch, 
"[Thiemann and others. Truth is so mighty, that, sooner 
or later, it must prevail. — But again, by means of this 
principle a great number of proper names which Greek 
authors had made known to us, have been recovered and 
read; as, Grsecus, Psamus ^ <^ ^ (Bsm), Bocharis rp^y 
(the Egyptian fox Bachar.) Moreover, the same princi- 
ple has enabled us, at last, to decipher aH bi-lingual in- 
scriptions, such as that of theRosetta-stone; of Herma- 
pion's Obelisk at Rome, the Gate of Phil^,the Tables of 
Abydos and Karnak, &c. — To this we may add the induc- 
tive proof, that a grammar of hierogh'phicsmust be cor- 
rect, if it enables us to translate, with logical correctness, 
entire and extensive written productions. With the 
aid of my grammar, entire books and chapters, and in- 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 43 

scriptions have been translated, word for word, from 
beginning to end. Wherever it has been applied, the 
text has yielded connected and rational thoughts, 
which, had the principle been incorrect, could never 
have been the case. Lastly, my grammar had already 
been some time published, when Lepsius (Chronologie 
der ^gypter, 1849) made public more than one hundred 
proper names of the said Decani ; and now it was 
found that the hieroglyphics which occur in these pro- 
per names, the pronunciation of which names have 
been transmitted to us by Firmicus, Origen, and others, 
formed syllables, and conveyed precisely the sounds, 
which had previously been ascribed to them in my 
grammar a long time before. It is needless to adduce 
any farther evidence. 

However, the question may still arise, what has be- 
come of the celebrated hieroglyphic discoveries of 
Dr. Young and of the world- renowned system of 
Champollion ? Dr. Young was the first man that threw 
any light whatever into the darkness, which had, for 
1800 years, enveloped the hieroglyphics. It is true, 
that the Jesuit Kircher had, before him, published in 
Rome seven folio volumes upon the hieroglyphics, and 
translated entire obelisks; but in all those seven vo- 
lumes there is not a solitary word of truth. He re- 
garded each hieroglyphic as one word, ascribed to each 
figure ten distinct significations, employing it at one 
time as a substantive, at another as a verb, now as an 
adjective, and again as an adverb. In this way ha 
made one group to yield the following meaning. " The 



44 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

beneficent power of procreation, mighty through the 
upper and the lower land, promotes the influx of the 
sacred fluid, which comes from above ; Saturn, the re- 
gulator of rapidly-flying time, and the beneficent dei- 
ty, increases the fertility of fields, exerting its influ- 
ence upon human nature." Now we know, that these 
same hieroglyphics read and signify neither more nor 
less than these two proper names : Cassar Domitianus.* 
— Dr. Young, therefore, first found, in 1819, on the 
Rosetta-stone the name Ptolemaeus (\ 7?A/^x^A 
compared it with that of Arsinoe, and Berenike, in other 
monuments, and thus discovered the first phonetic signs 
and the first articles for a lexicon of hieroglyphics. 
But of the thirteen hieroglyphic letters which Dr. 
Young was supposed to have discovered, only nine sub- 
sequently proved to be correct.f He assigned to his 
hieroglyphics one consonant with one or two vowels ; 
by the lion, for example, he conceived the sounds ole 
to be represented. All hieroglyphics not occurring in 
proper names, he regarded, as Kircher did, as symbo- 
lic ; but he justly considered several as together con- 
stituting one word. According to him : house, mouth 

* A similar translation of five hieroglyphic letters in Kircher's Obe- 
lisk. Pamphil. p. 507 is this: "Beneficentia superna et coelesti omnia 
ambientis et vivificantis numinis vi Mophta Niloticus aequali proportione 
incrementum humidi dispensat." See my Rudimenta Hieroglyphices 
p. 62. 

t Seebode, Jahn and Klotz, Neue Jahrbiicher ftir Philologie und Pa- 
dagogik, Leipz. 1834. B. X. H. 2. p. 182, with my treatise : Ueber- 
sicht der ^gyptischen Literatur seit Entdeckung der Inschrift von Ro- 
sette 1799 — 1834. — Die Grundsatze der Mythologie, so wie der hiero- 
glyphischen Systeme, cet. I.eipz., 1843, p. 225. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 45 

and feet y^V<^^'Cn together denoted symbolically; 
bearing respect, hence : Epiphanes, illustrious. 

At the same time, Champollion had published a 
book for the purpose of proving that the hierogly- 
phics contained nothing whatsoever of an alphabetic 
nature. But he no sooner heard of Dr. Young's dis- 
covery, than he bought in again, as quickly as possible, 
the copies of his book, and published, in 1821, his 
Lettre a M. Dacier, in which he deciphered a great 
many other names of kings, and made additions to the 
alphabet of Dr. Young, without even once alluding 
to him. This was the first literary furtum of the 
French savant^ to say nothing of his later ones.— On 
the other hand, Champollion made the discovery, that 
the phonetic hieroglyphics do not express a consonant 
accompanied with vowels, but only a consonant or a 
vowel, and that the one with which, as in Hebrew, 
the name of the hieroglyphic begins. Thus, then, the 
lion, being called Labo'i, was made to express the 
sound or letter Z, and not ole. This was, however, only 
partially true ; for in the same manner as in our lan- 
guage, sundry objects and hieroglyphics had several 
names, so that the same hieroglyphic does not, in 
every country, and in all ages express the same 
sound, as it is the case in the Hebrew. 

Soon after appeared, in 1826, my Rudimenta Hiero- 
glyphices, in which it was, for the first time, shown, 
that no hieroglyphic writing or text whatever, con- 
tained any symbolic hieroglyphics, and that many 



46 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

figure denote two consonants at the same time, and 
are therefore to be sounded syllabically. 

Before this, however, in 1824, Champollion's Precis 
du Systeme Hieroglyphique appeared and lastly, in 
1836, his comprehensive Grammaire and Dictionnaire, 
which completed Champollion's system. All the 
world believed that this contained the key to the hie- 
roglyphics, and that any body would be able, by 
means of it, to read entire works of the ancient Egyp- 
tians. But it all amounted to nothing. After the 
world had, for twenty-one whole years, made laborious 
and fruitless efforts to turn this system to practical 
account, Bunsen in 1845 acknowledged, as well as his 
friends Lepsius and Birch : " We declare, decidedly, 
that there is not a man alive, who could read and ex- 
plain [according to Champollion's system] any whole 
section of the book of the Dead, much less a histo- 
rical papyrus."^ — And why not ? All the rules laid 
down by Champollion proved to be wrong. All his 
efforts were made in a wrong direction. His entire 
system was based upon hypotheses that contradict 
history, and upon the deciphering of very short sen- 
tences severed from their connexion, which, precisely, 
because they were too short and disconnected, are 
susceptible of a hundred different explanations. Of 
such his whole grammar is full. Had Champollion 
endeavored, first of all to decipher the Rosetta in- 
scription and entire hieroglyphic texts from begin- 

* Bunsen, ^egypteu's Stellung in der Weltgeschichte. Hamb 
1845. I. 320 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 47 

ning to end, he would have propounded an entirely 
different system, that is the syllabic system. 

In the first instance, Champollion taught that the 
half of every hieroglyphic inscription consisted of 
symbolic signs, and maintained that the symbolic or 
hieroglyphic preceded the alphabetical writing, with- 
out for a moment considering, that even before the 
deluge there had been an alphabet and books, that 
the Egyptians possessed an alphabet of twenty-five 
letters, including seven vowels, and that their first 
letter was A, and that their whole system of writing 
must have been based upon Noah's alphabet. More- 
over, his explanations of the symbolic hieroglyphics 
was so ingenious, as to be, I acknowledge it, quite be- 
yond my comprehension. Thus, according to Cham- 
pollion, the Egyptians expressed the word thirst by 
means of waves of water and a calf. Now we know 
indeed, that calves are always thirsty, but it was never 
known that in Egypt they had much thirst for waves 
of water. — According to Champollion's system the 
intransitive verb was denoted by two feet represented 
as moving forward. According to our logic we would 
rather conclude that two feet in motion denoted the 
transitive and not the intransitive form of the verb. 
In fact, however, these denoted nothing more than 
the participle et, as also in the Coptic, because the feet 
expressed the consonant t. — Champollion as well as 
Kircher, very ingeniously translated all the agnomina 
of the kings symbolically, e. g. " Soleil, gardien de la 
verite." Unfortunately, however, the Greek trans- 



48 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

lation of the Flaminian obelisk, and of the Tables of 
Abydos and Karnak came subsequently to light ; and 
then it was discovered that of the hundred ingenious 
translations of Champollion not a single one was 
correct ; instead of " Soleil, gardien de la verite" Her- 
mapion read " Ramses ;" instead of " ami de Phtha 
Nubnubei" Diodofus Siculus read " Osimandya." In 
short, Champollion was unable to allege a single well- 
founded reason, why the Egyptians should have ex- 
pressed certain words symbolically by means of cer- 
tain hieroglyphics ; why e. g. the forehead (\ should 
logically denote the number ten ; a ball of yarn ^ one 
hundred ; the lotus-leaf J one thousand ; the finger jf 
ten thousand ; the hatchet \ a god ; the well- bucket 
^ a burnt-offering, and so on. 

The second fundamental law of Champollion's sys- 
tem runs thus : " you must not ascribe to any hiero- 
glyphic a syllabic value or meaning." Although the 
opposite of this had been demonstrated, as early as 
1826, in my Rudimenta Hieroglyphices, Champollion 
persisted in re-asserting this error in all his subsequent 
works. Even in his grammar, which was published 
in 1836, after his death, the same law is repeated, 
whilst not one table with syllabic hieroglyphics is 
given in his works. And thus Champollion had 
effectually deprived himself and all his disciples of 
every means of correctly translating the Rosetta-in- 
scription or any other text ; for, in general, every hie- 
roglyphic figure denotes a syllable of two or three 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 49 

consonants. In a text of five hundred hieroglyphics 
four hundred syllabic signs are contained. 

Not less pernicious was the influence of Champol- 
lion's third fundamental law, that the Egyptians re- 
garded a picture as underlying determinatively the 
hieroglyphic groups, in order to indicate symbolically 
to what class of things the word belongs which precedes 
the determinative. Thus he translates JUH^ -^=5^ 8 
"serpent," because the determinative is a serpent. 
This principle gave rise to the most luxuriant absur- 
dity. For example, in the group consisting of a 
throne, an eye and a man fl^^j], it is asserted that 
the throne denotes dominion, the eye providence, and 
both together, according to some unknown logic, Osi- 
ris ; i. e. the most holy God. With this the Egyp- 
tians connected the determinative : Man. But any 
sensible man will naturally demand to know, whether 
the Creator of all things belongs to the class of 
human beings ? — 

Egypt was represented by the reed, we are told ; 
Q^^ and with this the plan of a city was conjoined 
as the determinative. But did Egypt belong to the 
class of cities, or not rather to that of countries '^ — 

The hieroglyphic letters hepij[f]jl^ ^iT^ | form the 
word A(9^^, serpent, but also the word hpi^ house. As 
the determinative of this group is the picture of a 
snake, Champollion translated this group and could 
not help translating it, serpent or snake. Now, the 
entire passage comprising that group was thus render- 
ed by Champollion in his Dictionary : " There is a 
3 



50 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

serpent thirty cubits in length, fifteen cubits broad, 
and four cubits thick."=^ — What has become of this 
prodigy, which still existed in the time of the ancient 
Egyptians, a serpent thirty cubits by fifteen, and only 
four cubits thick ? — Perhaps this was an antediluvian 
leech, or Dr. Koch's gigantic lizard, only that it was 
ten cubits broader ; or perhaps even it was our cele- 
brated sea-serpent, measuring fifteen cubits in breadth. 
However, that hieroglyphic group also denotes house, 
hejpi^ and its determinative serpent was not symbolic, 
but syllabic, hjp / and therefore once again, for the 
sake of perspicuity, syllabically expresses the preced- 
ing consonants h]). Hence the sense of the passage 
was the following : " There is a house thirty cubits 
long, fifteen cubits wide and four cubits high ; tbis is 
the habitation of the departed one in the land of the 
blessed."^ In short, there were no symbolic, but only 
phonetic determinatives ; and whoever translates in- 
scriptions according to ChampoUion's symbolical deter- 
minatives, can produce nothing but nonsense. Even 
those determinatives which apparently represent the 
same objects preceded by their names phonetically writ- 
ten, are elsewhere used to designate syllabically words 
of an entirely different signification, or are separate 
words. Thus, for example, the word On Q ^, sun, 
is followed by the plan of a city, in order to form the 
compound word : Heliopolis ; or the city of the sun ; 
for the city-plan haki signifies city, and together with 

* Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenland. Gesellschafl. Leipz. 1850. 
IV. p. 377.; with my treatise ; Der Hieroglyphenschliissel. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 61 



the preceding on, or sun, the compound term ; city of 
the sun. This same plan of a city is employed to 
determine km^ Egypt, i. e. Q^ in order to form 
the word, land of Egypt ; for the city-plan hh is 
syllabically equivolent to haJd, land ; and therefore 
km — hk conjoinedly denote the land of Egj^pt. 

Lastly, Champollion's system teaches the doctrine, 
that every hieroglyphic inscription contains a multi- 
tude of abbreviations. Instead of suten >vws£^ kii^oj 
the Egyptians, as Champollion says, often put only s 
:f , in lieu of miter <^>P only n P, in lieu of her ^^ 
only k /I\, in lieu of onch '^^■y only o y, instead 
of ^j>t^ 2 only^ D, instead t^y hk only \h, and so on. 
How can any man conceive of such a method of writ- 
ing designed to be intelligible to all men? In every 
passage of five hundred hieroglyphics we are requir- 
ed in four hundred instances to regard one letter as 
expressing two or three consonants. How would it 
then have been possible to understand a single line 
in the sense which the writer intended to convey? — 
Fifty years ago it was the custom in Germany of add- 
ing the letters U. A. w. g. (the favor of an answer is 
requested) at the bottom of invitation-cards which 
provoked a play-writer (Kotzebue) to write an entire 
comedy in order to exhibit the multiplicity of senses, 
in which the initials in question may be taken, by 
way of ridicule. Every one interpreted these abbre- 
viations according to his fancy; the gourmands read 
them : " there will be drinking of choice Hungarian 
wines ;" the young ladies insisted, that they meant : 



52 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

^'and in the evening there will be dancing." Had 
Champollion not been stricken with blindness, he 
would have observed as early as 1824, that those iso- 
lated hieroglyphics, which are expressive of entire 
words, were no abbreviations, but were to be pronoun- 
ced syllabically, and that they served to express the 
sounds contained in their names, and hence phoneti- 
cally entire words, the same words which were some- 
times written alphabetically. 

From this system of Champollion, that of Messrs. 
Lepsius, Birch and Bunsen differs in only one parti- 
cular. It is the opinion of these gentlemen, that those 
isolated hieroglyphics, which are expressive of entire 
words, were not always abbreviations of the same 
groups, but sometimes abbreviations of entirely dif- 
ferent words. They explained the matter thus : In the 
earliest times the Egyptian words were all expressed 
symbolically, according to some undiscovered prin- 
ciple by means of two or three hieroglyphic signs. 
Subsequently the second and the third hieroglyphic 
were omitted, and the first was taken in the sense of the 
original group. At a still later period this remaining 
hieroglyphic was, besides, used to express syllabically 
other and entirely different words. — Surely this is 
treating the sound common sense of mankind with 
contempt! Who can for a moment reconcile his mind 
to a system presenting such a mass of confusion.* There 
was, at least, something to be said in favor of Cham- 
pollion's system. For the Egyptians really did express 
many words invariably by the same hieroglyphics, 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 



53 



partly because they selected such figures, of which the 
names themselves contained the vowels of the words 
to be expressed, and partly for the purpose of esta- 
blishing a logical connexion between the words to be 
expressed and the figures employed to express them. 
Thus, for instance, the word ^{im Q '=^ Egypt, was not 
denoted by the lion's paw "H^ C ^_^ , which was read home 
and thus also contains the sound hm^ but by the reed- 
Itam^ because the latter contained the same vowel, and 
is, moreover, logically related to Egypt, which abounds 
in reeds. Thus then Champollion's doctrine, although 
incorrect, had, at least, something in its favor. For 
we can conceive of such a thing, as that the Egyptians 
had abbreviated certain words, because these words 
invariably began with the same sign, and were gene- 
rally known. But that doctrine which exhibits a con- 
fusion worse confounded, and according to which a 
hieroglyphic denotes all the words that begin with 
the same hieroglyphic, is so absurd, that it is unne- 
cessary to waste another word upon it. 

We must, however, guard against the assumption, 
that this mixed system leads to the same results, as 
the syllabic. For, if we look for the names belong- 
ing to our six hundred and thirty hieroglyphics, we 
perceive at once what consonants each of them con- 
tained, and consequently also what words were express- 
ed by each one of them. But according to the mixed 
system it would first of all be necessary to ascertain 
in what manner each word was, in the earliest ages, 
symbolically expressed by several signs, and what hie- 



54 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

roglyphics originally lay back of any particular figure, 
in order to ascertain its syllabic signification, in 
places where it expresses an entire word. Tbe Egyp- 
tians, however, have never and under no circumstan- 
ces written in such a primitive symbolic manner, so 
that it is impossible to find the syllabic signification 
of all the hieroglyphics by such a process. And yet 
men like Lepsius and Birch have endeavored to de- 
termine the syllabic signification of the hieroglyphics 
in conformity with this chimerical principle ; which, 
however, they never applied to more than seventy ; 
and even in respect of two-thirds of these they were 
utterly mistaken, because their inquiries were confin- 
ed to hieroglyphic groups which were entirely irrele- 
vant. 

Such then is the character of the world-renowned 
system of Champollion. But how, it will be asked, 
could the whole world regard and recommend this as 
the veritable key to the literature of the ancient 
Egyptians? — The question is easily answered. The fa- 
cility of the French language gave his doctrine ready 
access everywhere ; and our brain is a tablet of marble. 
Whatever is first engraven on it, will endure as long 
as the material itself. Besides, every one knows, that, 
the world gives credence to novelties the more readily, 
the more marvellous and chimerical they are. Gothe 
somewhere remarks: "The world cannot comprehend 
the True^ because it is too simple." 

And now we will proceed to ascertain still farther, 
by practical tests, what Champollion's system amounts 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 55 

to. Champollion had the inscription of Rosetta, with 
its Greek translation, lying on his table for forty en- 
tire years, and yet to his dying hour he was never 
able to translate this inscription. And why not? 
Simply because this inscription was based upon a me- 
thod of writing, differing altogether, in its principle, 
from the one found by Champollion ; because he had 
no conception whatever of the true key to the hiero- 
glyphics. 

Champollion was twice in Rome, and examined all 
the thirteen Obelisks of the " Eternal City," and yet 
he could not find the obelisk translated by Hermapi- 
on, although it stood before the eyes of all men, close 
by the Porta del popolo. One day, in 1826, he even 
asked me, in Rome, whether I had found the obelisk 
in question, but added, without waiting for my an- 
swer ; " sara ancora in una cantina," it must still lie in 
some cellar. But although I already knew it well, I 
still considered it the part of prudence to maintain 
silence a while longer, in order to secure what I had 
acquired. 

ChampoUion's successor, De Rouge, the present di- 
rector of the Egyptian Museum at Paris, published, 
about four years ago, a translation of a remarkable 
inscription from the time of Moses, in which he for- 
mally renounces ChampoUion's system and adopts my 
syllabic alphabet, of which he possessed a copy, as 
the basis of his version. He says : " It would have 
been impossible, to translate this inscription according 
to ChampoUion's system, in the condition in which 



66 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

he left it." — And all Egyptologists have now, like him, 
gradually adopted my syllabic princii^le.* 

A great many proper names of kings and gods, 
especially those of the Decani, Champollion was un- 
able to read. And why? Because they were ex- 
pressed syllabically. All the Agnomina of the kings 
were explained symbolically by him. But these also 
were syllabic, as we learn from the translations of 
Eratosthenes and Manetho. 

After Champollion's death his most distinguished 
disciples, Ungarelli and Rosellini, published a trans- 
lation of the inscriptions on the said obelisk at the 
Porta del popolo, made exactly after Champollion's 
system, in accordance with his grammar and his 
dictionary. It was now time for me to come out with 
Hermapion's translation of the Elaminian obelisk, 
which I had discovered in 1826. And what was the 
result ? According to Champollion's system the sense 
of the entire inscription had been mistaken ; of three 
words only half a one had been correctly rendered, 
and not a single one correctly explained.! Thus, for 
example, Champollion's system gave rise to the fol- 
lowing version of the second column on the east-side 
of the obelisk : " From his magnificence this edifice 
to his beloved, by making his name immortal." — Old 
Hermapion, on the contrary, had rendered thus : (**a 

* Gersdorf, Repertorium der deutschen und auslandischen Literatur. 
1853. II. p. 155, 1853. I. p. 26, 1849. II. p. 1. 

t Ungarelli, Interpretatio Obeliscorum Urbis. Rome, 1842.; and my 
treatise concerning it in Gersdorf, Repertorium der d. u. a. Liter. 
1844. 11. p. 309. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 57 

testimonial) of tlie king, who adorned the abode of 
the gods, which he had erected, with beautiful Taau- 
tic sculptures on the inclosing walls ;" meaning, that 
he adorned them with hieroglyphic figures. There is 
here a reference to Osimandya (1700 B. C), the 
greatest of all the Egyptian kings, and to his world- 
renowned Osimandyeum, the ruins of which are* 
now to be seen at Karnak. 

We will now proceed to inquire, what the inductive 
proof is worth. Champollion left behind him a large 
dictionary of hieroglyphics with 6000 articles. The 
signification of these 6000 groups and figures he 
determined in the following manner. He ascribes no 
syllabic signification to any of the hieroglyphics ; he 
very ingeniously represented one half of the hiero- 
glyphics of an inscription to be symbolic, and gave 
to the groups, which were followed by a determina- 
tive, the signification required by the determinative, 
taken in a symbolical sense. But he did not translate 
a continuous or connected text, but only short sen- 
tences, severed from the context, or isolated words. 
Now, if Champollion's system is correct, then the 
translation of any and every continuous text made 
with the assistance of Champollion's dictionary must 
yield a rational meaning, or good sense. If, on the 
other hand, it is erroneous, it will inevitably give rise 
to nonsense. We select, as a specimen, a portion of 
one of the religious books of the ancient Egyptians, 
of which the contents are indicated by a preceding 
vignette. It exhibits the image of the Creator in 
3* 



58 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 



front of the image of the sun, which is emitting 
burning rays, or, as we say, drawing water, as is wont 
to be the case when a thunder-storm is approaching. 
This text, when translated according to Champollion's 
system and dictionary, reads as follows. All 4he 
words occurring in this text are, with few exceptions, 
defined and translated in Champollion's dictionnaire. 
But let us hear.=^ 

" The chapter relating to the eye, the god Scara- 
baeus, the mummy of God, appointed the hour, or 
rather towards the main-road, the darkness, the night." 

'^ This is the image of the truth-speaking Osiris : 
I am the gazelle — the comely one, the instrument, 
the lake of the heavenly waters, the woman, the illu- 
minating one, the hour, splendor. The beginning, 
the hour towards the main-road, the darkness, the 
night. — The night to the mouth, duality, women, or 

rather mouth. — Man inhabiting, my sprout I am 

the bride, the hour, the darkness, the night, are going 
to the man, the hour, the darkness, the night, he the 
mouth illumining — te me, he duality, stone of the 
habitations above the heavens, above fame, this lord 
with him ; to go to me ; he towards the mouth illu- 
mining — to me the royal crown, the entire domina- 
tion ; he the mouth illumining and the meadow-field 
and enamel — and the two ostrich-feathers, my sprig, 
to will he, the purse, the belonging to me — I who am 

* Jahresbericht der deutsch. morgenl. Gesell. 1846. p. 71 ; with 
my treatise : Bemerkungen viber das Turiner Hymnologium, Lepsius' 
Todtenbuch. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 69 

the bride, the hour, the darkness, the night, to come 
to me the hour, the darkness, the night ;" and so on. 

The real import, however, of this section is as fol- 
lows : " The discourse concerning the nature of God, 
the creator, who speaks in trumpets, and causes the 
clouds of heaven to flash with lightning." 

" Thus saith the High and Holy One K N., the 
weigher and measurer : it is I who cause the gleaming 
garment of the heavenly firmament to be shrouded 
in sack-cloth, when I purpose to speak with my brazen 
trumpet. Behold the trumpet, the lightnings of the 
clouds of heaven, the thunder-peals of heaven, which 
proclaim : Fall down (upon your knees), ye women ! 
and say : Be afraid, be afraid, ye men I Listen to my 
voice .... I am the holder (keeper) of the trumpet of 
the clouds of heaven. Prostrate yourselves before 
me, before my trumpet of the clouds of heaven, when 
my mouth speaks in thunders ; prostrate yourselves 
before me, when I cause the stones of the houses 
under the heavens to fall down, and chastise those 
who enter into their chambers. Prostrate yourselves 
before me, when my mouth calls ; who am crowned 
with the crown of power. When my mouth calls, 
bring ye byssus, flax, meal ; bring me frankincense 
for an ofiering ; give each of you a little fruit, dried 
grapes, every month of the year. For, I am the 
holder of the trumpet of heaven, the Lord. Pros- 
trate yourselves before me, before the trumpet of 
the clouds of heaven, before the Lord ;" and so on. 

After these unedifying, but necessary digressions, 



60 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

we return to our Egyptian antiquities, or more par- 
ticularly to the papyri in Dr. Abbott's Museum, in 
order to ascertain wbat they have to say to us. We 
will first take up the three largest. 

III. THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE ANCIENT 

EaYPTIANS. 

There was, as is well-known, a primitive revelation 
which was transmitted from generation to generation, 
and which even before the flood was recorded in 
sacred writings, now no longer extant. Immediately 
after the fall, the Lord said to the serpent : " It shall 
bruise thy head," and at the time of Seth it is said : 
" then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." 
One of these sacred books was that of Enoch, mentioned 
in the New Testament, differing, however, from the 
Pseudo-Enoch now published. The Hindoos likewise 
relate, that there were sacred records anterior to the 
flood, after the loss of which men became wicked ; 
whereupon God concluded to extirpate the entire 
human race. 

Through Noah those primitive revelations were 
handed down to all the nations that sprang from his 
descendants. This accounts for the fact, that all the 
ancient nations were in possession of certain sacred 
books, like the Sibylline of the Greeks and Romans, 
the Zendavesta, the Vedas, the Taautic writings of 
the Egyptians. This too accounts for the fact, that 
among all these nations of antiquity we meet with 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 61 

traces of a Triune God, expectations of a Saviour in 
the course of the sixth millennium after the creation, 
like doctrines concerning the angels, like temples, 
like sacrifices, like festival-days, like forms of wor- 
ship, like priests, &c. This accounts, lastly, for Vir- 
gil's (Buc. I. 498.) singing shortly before the advent 
of Christ ; " The last age of the world is already 
approaching. Be propitious to the coming child, with 
whom the iron age will end, chaste Lucina ! be pro- 
pitious to him. Then, then will be effaced the traces 
of our guilt and then the earthwill be redeemed from 
its perpetual terror. — The serpent will die. Accept, 
the time is already approaching, accept the 
exalted honors, thou dear child of God, descended from 
great Jupiter." 

Moses himself has received these primitive reve- 
lations, which he transmitted to posterity, enriched 
by new and more definite ones from Sinai. The 
Egyptians, in all probability, likewise received pri- 
mitive revelatipns of a similar description in their 
forty-two sacred records, which, according to their 
traditions, came from Thoth, or Athothis, the son of 
their first king Menes, 666 years after the flood. If 
these books had contained no truth of a higher order, 
they would certainly never have been mentioned and 
described by the church-fathers, as e. g. by Clemens 
Aldxandrinus ; they would never have been copied so 
often and as late as the times of the apostles. Now 
the three large papyrus-scrolls in Dr. Abbott's Muse- 
um, and all others like them, are precisely such 



62 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

copies ; as I proved in a book, concerning the Berlin- 
papyri, as early as 1826. In the European Museums 
there are nearly &\e hundred such hieroglyphic, hie- 
ratic and also demotic manuscript copies of these 
forty-two sacred books of the ancient Egyptians, more 
or less complete. The most complete is that of Turin, 
which is sixty feet in length. Now what may be the 
contents of these books, which are now upwards of 
4600 years old ? The first book contains the follow- 
ing text.=* 

Title : " This is the book of prayers, for the praise 
of the Lord Lord, who has resolved to create servants, 
serving the eternal counsellor, the creator of all 
things." 

" The Lord Lord declares, at the same time, in 
this mummy-scroll, how the deceased Ahabanuk, the 
child of the Most-Holy, the just, the son of the 
daughter of Phaminis, the just, his mother, has been 
exalted." 

All the papyrus-scrolls of this description belonged 
to some particular individual, and were, after his 
decease, deposited with his corpse in the grave, pro- 
vided he had led a virtuous life. In this case the 
name of the deceased was subsequently inserted after 
that of the Creator in a space, designedly left vacant 
in transcribing, in order to indicate, that the sozd of 
the departed was thenceforward to become partaker 

* Theologische Schriften der alten -^gypter, cet. Gotha, 1855 ; and 
my Bemerkungen uber die ^gyptische Papyrus zu Berlin. Leipz. 
1826. 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 63 

of all the glories of God. — ^I now proceed to the trans- 
lation of the first sacred book, perhaps the most 
ancient extant in the world. 

" There is a Most-Holy One (a God), a creator of the 
fullness of the earth, a ruler of days (a Providence)." 

" I am (saith the Lord) the God of gods, the exalt- 
ed maker of the planets, and of the (heavenly) hosts, 
which are praising me above thy head ; and (I) the 
Creator of the exalted race of the (heavenly) mighty 
princes and governors ; (I) who sit in judgment ; (I) 
the Most-Holy One, who condemn the wicked ; I am 
myself my king, the preserver of the laws, as long as 
he walks in the valley of thy promises, 0, most-holy 
(God)." — (The persons are here sometimes confounded, 
as in other oriental texts.) 

" I am the Creator of the exalted generations of the 
mighty (the celestial powers), of the children of 
heaven, which (the starry heaven) moves in order to 
disclose the murderers and persecuters of the pious, 
in order to find the deceivers, the children of the 
traducer (of Satan) before his (i. e. before the Crea- 
tor's) countenance, as long as they walk in the valley 
of thy promises (i. e. on earth); I, the king of my 
hosts above thee ; I, the planter of my herbs beneath 
thee." 

" I am myself the world, the judge of every deed ; 
myself the light (i. e. the sun), that convicts the evil- 
doer ; myself my king, the preserver of the laws of 
Egypt, who dwell at On, the city of the sun." 

*' I am the light, the son of the primeval light. I 



64: THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

dwell in the exalted land of light and was born in 
the land of light (with me there is no night.)" 

" The government is mine, ye men and women of 
Egypt ! Mine, who am the high and holy institutor of 
the adorations, which in the temples of both Egypts 
concern the Most Holy One (the Creator j ; mine, who 
sit in judgment (the holder of courts), the Most Holy 
One, that convicteth the wicked ; mine, who have 
joined together the glory of the sun, the king of the 
world ; mine, who am the judge and condemner of 
the wicked ; mine who have fashioned the verdure of 
the earthly pasture." 

" The government is mine, who am the prince of 
my sun, which clothes all lands, the abodes of men ; 
which illumines the house of worship (the world), 
which manifests the heart of the persecuter of the 
just ; mine, who determined to make burnt-offerings 
and victims of sacrifice for him, whom all the world 
feareth." 

" The government is mine, who am the Lord, who 
have made my arm, my right arm to be dreaded ; the 
Most-Holy One, who hath trampled under foot the 
abode of the wicked ; who hath destroyed (in the de- 
luge) the polluted race of the world, who hath made 
the children of the deceiver (of Satan) and the inso- 
lent in the habitation of wickedness upon earth to 
tremble." 

" The government is mine, who am the prince, the 
Lord of the festive assemblies of the Most-Holy, of 
the good spirit, of the judge (i. e. the triune God); 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 65 

who have ordered the solar years, who have com- 
manded the sanctification of the seventh day of the 
week, the celebration of the new moon at On, " the 
city of the sun." 

" I am that I am, mine own priest at Tantatho, 
(the sacred city), who slays the victim at Abydos, 
the comely city; who slaughters the burnt-offering 
of trespasses for thee ; and the high-priest at Aby- 
dos, the comely city; the lord of the offering of 
unrighteousness for thee ; the supreme offerer of 
burnt-offerings and of sacrifices, which are brought 
to him, whom all the world feareth." 

" It is I, who slay the sacred sin-offering of the 
lamb for thee at Tantatho, and who burn it in his 
flames." 

" It is I, that weave the garments (i. e. the bodies 
of men), as I am also the inventor of the loom ; 
I, that devised the woof (in the human body.'') 

" It is I, that produced the vine, grain, sheaves, 
threshing and meal in the kingdom of Egypt, the 
magnificent." 

" There is one, who has made the walk of the 
servants, of the (walking) statues in the house of 
the Most Holy One (i. e. in the world) to be upright, 
who had made your walk upright; it is the spirit 
(the wisdom) of the Most Holy and just One ; your 
Sovereign." 

" The Most Holy One lives ; he seeth, as ye see ; 
he heareth, as ye hear; he standeth, as ye stand; 
he sitteth, as ye sit." 



66 THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 

" There is one, who giveth to the servants, to tho 
(walking) statues in the house of the Most Holy One 
fruit and refreshing drinks of every kind ; who 
giveth to you fruit and refreshing drinks of every 
kind, every (new) year of the Most Holy One ; and 
he is your sovereign." 

" There is one, who hath lighted the lamps of 
heaven ; one, who hath woven the star-covered path 
(the milky-way) for his servants, the (walking) sta- 
tues in the house of the Most Holy One ; who hath 
lighted the heavenly lamps ^or you, who hath woven 
the star-covered path for you/ and that is the Most 
Holy One, your sovereign ;" 

" He, whom my prayer in the house of the Most 
Holy One exalteth, whom my song of praise exalt- 
eth, whom the choral anthem praiseth ; he the 
Most Holy and Just ;" 

"He, to whom all the world crieth, and whom 
they seek and worship on bended knees ; whom 
the choir of the anthems of praise exalteth, to 
whom the circle of musicians shouteth, he, the sit- 
ter in judgment over his harvest-fields on earth, 
who walketh about in his plantations, your sove- 
reign." 

"Yea, the Most Holy One walketh through the 
terrestrial hosts, when evening hath come, and 
findeth the derider of those who seek after righte- 
ousness, as well as the obscurity of the just, who 
are concerned for the safety (salvation) of many, who 
instruct the other servants in the fear of the law." 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. . 67 

" He findeth every one that reveres what is sacred^ 
every one that humbles his head, every one that is 
willing to attend to thy work, to the hosts of heavenly 
powers." 

" Praise me, (saith the Lord), the Almighty ; seek 
him who npholdeth the terrestrial hosts, augment 
your care for the hosts of the heavenly powers, of 
the inhabitants of the celestial firmament, who 
occupy a habitation like unto your habitation, who 
walk above the head of the terrestrial hosts." 

" I (the Lord) look and take note who offers to the 
Lord of hosts, whose image (the sun) is sailing upon 
the heavenly floods (in the blue firmament) sin- 
offerings and thank-offerings ; who worships him on 
bended knees with humility ;" 

" Thus also look ye up to me, all ye children of 
men in the house of praise ; look up, too, to the 
hosts of heavenly powers, to the shining garment 
of the* sky, to the carpet of glory (the starry hea- 
vens), to the mansions of ^ the hosts of the mighty, 
who work for their tnaster, for my glory / look 
up to me, who have established my kingdom above 
the heavens." 

" Hearken unto me, my servant ! Weave garments, 
weave cloths, weave linen, girdles, bracelets of thanks 
for me in humility of heart, and in profoundest re- 
verence for me, who am the Lord of All." 

Here begins the anthem of praise to God, as follows. 

" Praise be to thy countenance, who hast woven 
the hosts of worlds, thou High and Holy God ! 



68 . THE KEY TO THE IHEROGLYPHICS. 

Thou Lord of all that breathe the breath of life I 
Who adornest the entire earth I Let me praise the 
architect who has made the terrestrial hosts ; who. 
at the appointed time, hath caused all things on 
earth and beyond the world to spring into exist- 
ence ; who hath constructed them all for me." 

" Songs and anthems of praise to the Master- 
Architect, who made the world for me, who made 
it for the habitation of man, the Creator's image : 
praise be to him, who once created that splendid 
garment of the sky, that alternation of the two 
heavenly luminaries (sun and moon) every year 
around." 

" I shout praises to the Lord, to the Good Spirit, 
to the Holy One ; I serve the Lord, whom all lands 
fear, to the Most-Holy One at Tantatho (in the land 
of light)." 

"I extol the works of the Lord, which delight 
my heart, as long as I walk in the house of the 
Lord (on earth)." 

" 0, may my humble efforts have proved accep- 
table !" 

Here follow now the concluding observations to 
this first book of the sacred writings of the ancient 
Egyptians : 

" Here endeth the first book, the introduction to 
the writings contained in this sacred mummy-scroll, 
which glorifies the Lord of the universe." 

" 0, that the Lord might be exalted in his holy 
temple, that he might be worshipped with bended 



THE KEY TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 69 

knees, that corn of every kind, refreshing drinks, 
sheaves, textures of linen and wool might be 
brought to him upon the altar of the Lord ; (might 
be brought) to him, before whom the meadows and 
woods of both upper and lower Egypt are bowing 
their heads ; that fields and gardens might be offer- 
ed to him (to his temples)." 

"For his is the end, as is his the beginning (of 
all things)."— 

Now what do we learn from these religious books 
of the ancient Egyptians, which have so long been 
enveloped in impenetrable darkness ? They tell us, 
in' the first place, how men, whose descendants we 
are, thought, spoke, acted and worshipped our Lord 
and Master 4600 years ago. Such, and perhaps still 
better may have been the state of things 6Q6 years 
earlier in the family of Noah. Whether the world 
in general has at the present time advanced farther 
in piety like this, I leave to every one to answer 
for himself. 

We, in the next place, find here another proof, 
that there really was a primitive revelation. For, 
of themselves the ancient Egyptians would never 
have known anything concerning a triune God, con- 
cerning the angels, his ministers ; concerning a fa- 
ther of lies ; concerning the creation, the flood, the 
sanctification of the Sabbath, concerning the typical 
sacrifice of the lamb; concernirig the high and 
other priests. 



70 THE MYTHOLOGY, &C. 

IV. THE MYTHOLOaY AND THE OBJECT OF 
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AMONG ALL THE AN- 
CIENT NATIONS OF THE GLOBE. 

Jeremiali Chap. 1, 7. says : " Babylon hath been a 
golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the 
earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her 
wine ; therefore the nations are mad." Indeed, we 
find always in the ancient world, the same father of 
the gods, the same seven Kabiri, the same twelve 
great gods, the same myths ; but nobody could make 
out what they meant. Mythology was, during 1800 
years, enveloped in impenetrable darkness ! 

We learn from the said sacred writings of the Egyp- 
tians in the last place, what was properly the object 
of religious worship among all the ancient nations of 
the globe. The highest object of every form of wor- 
ship was the Creator and governor of all things; the 
<'Most Holy One," "the Father of gods and men," 
" Zeus," the '* Deus Optimus Maximus," the " Zedek 
(the just one) with his seven sons (Angels)," the " great 
king with his seven ministers," as the ancient people 
say. Consequently they did not, as is now generally 
assumed, worship the local powers of nature, animals, 
plants, but next to the Lord higher beings, created by 
God, and of an intermediate nature between God and 
man, who, as we have seen, work for their Lord and 
for his glory. These are the above-named sons of Ze- 
dek, those seven Kabiri of the Greeks, the Romans 
and others ; those seven ministers of the Most-High, 



OF ANCIENT NATIONS. 71 

through whom he governs the world. According to 
the already corrupted opinion of the Ancients, the 
seven planets were the bodies of these seven Kabiri ; 
and the twelve Constellations of the Zodiac were the 
mansions of the twelve Dii Majores. Sacred animals 
were held in veneration by the ancient Egpytians 
merely because they were, according to the statement of 
the Ancients themselves, regarded as the " symbols of 
the divine creative powers, which revealed the single 
deities." This object has been treated more in exten- 
so in my Theologische Schriften der alten ^gypter, p. 
12; Grundsatze der Mythologieund alten Eeligions- 
geschichte ; Leipz. 1843. Berichtigungen der Ge- 
schichte und Zeitrechnung, p. 130 ; Astronomia ^gyp- 
tiaca, Leipz. 1833, Vol. II ; iiber die hochsten acht 
Gottheiten, die Kabiren der Germanischen Yolker in 
Illgen's Zeitschrift fiir historische Theologie, 1834. 
Yol. IV. Fasc. 2. ; Neue Beitrage zur Indischen My- 
thologie und allgemeinen Eeligionsgeschichte in Ill- 
gen's Zeitschrift fiir historische Theologie, 1841 ; Fasc. 
3. Ueber Opferplatze und Religion der alten Deut- 
schen, in Neues Lausitzer Magazin, 1842, Vol. YI. 
Fasc. 2. 

Besides this, it is extremely probable, that these 
sacred writings will in time make us acquainted with 
many other things, of which we at present have scarce- 
ly any conception ; they will bring nearer to us an 
age and a world, which thus far has lain far beyond 
O'.jr horizon. 



72 THE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD. 

V. THE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD, REPRE- 
SENTED IN EGYPTIAN PAPYRI. 

Nearly all the manuscript copies of the sacred records 
of the Egyptians contain a pictorial representation of 
the judgment, to which the souls of the deceased were 
forced to submit, before they were either united with 
the Lord, or consigned to perdition. They nearly all 
contain the same figures, and are accompanied by 
almost the same inscriptions. The entire picture in 
the large Papyrus-scroll at Turin (the Todtenbuch) 
represents the celestial judgment-hall. In the mid- 
dle of the top of it are inscribed the words : " House 
of the Tribunal." On both sides are six times repeat- 
ed the words : " Light, revelation, justice." In the 
background towards the left is seated the Most Holy 
One upon his throne, surrounded by the Holy of the 
Holies. Before him are stationed the witnesses of 
the tribunal, of which all are personified, as for ex- 
ample, the forty-two personages on the pediment, sig- 
nifying the forty- two cardinal virtues (justitiaej Dio- 
dor. I. 92.) ; below appear piety, loyalty, just weight 
and measure, the four seasons of the year (the four 
Horae), which had witnessed all the actions of the de- 
ceased ; farther to the right stands Thoth (the World). 
Behind him are seen both the Kabiri : Day (Horus) 
and Night (Anubis), which are balancing the Virtue 
of the deceased and the foibles of his heart against 
each other on a pair of scales. The result is record- 
ed by Thoth upon a tablet, in order to present it to 



REPRESENTED IN EGYPTIAN PAPYRI. 73 

the Judge. Hereupon follows the woman, Justice, who 
introduces the soul of the deceased into the sacred 
mansion of God (into heaven), in order that there it 
may worship the Creator face to face, throughout all 
eternity. The soul, thus introduced by Justice, ap- 
proaches the Most-Holy One with the following words, 
which are annexed to the figure. 

" Let me (0 Lord) enter in among thy people for 
all times. I have carefully refrained from committing 
murder; I have carefully refrained from trespassing 
(robbery) ; I have carefully refrained from secret 
fraud and deception (from lying) ; I have maintained 
reverence for the gods and respect for the law. I have 
praised thy countenance, thou creator of the fulness 
of the earth, thou sacred Being, God, Lord of Abydos 
(Lord of Time), who impartest light to thy servants, 
flashes of light to the darkness of night. Lord ; I 
have loved thy servants, who walk in the house of 
thanksgiving and praise (on earth). I have exalted, 
I have glorified him, who has made all the world, in 
this house of creation, even since I have walked 
among the terrestrial hosts. I have brought sacrifices 
in abundance in the house of worship, in the house 
of praise (upon earth).^ 

* Theologische Schrifien der alien ^gypter, p. 25. 



74 DEMOTIC DOCUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 

VI, THE DEMOTIC DOCUMENTS OF THE 
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 

The administration of justice among tlie ancient 
Egyptians was formerly entirely unknown to us. In 
the course of time, however, a multitude of demotic, 
hieratic and Greek papyri were brought into Europe, 
which documents diffused a great deal of light on 
this point, and enlightened us respecting the history 
of ancient jurisprudence. The Greek translations and 
postscripts of judicial documents from all parts of 
Egypt served especially as valuable aids in this re- 
spect. Now we know, that there were tribunals or 
courts of justice in every city, that all sales or convey- 
ances of property were required to be made according 
to a regular legal process, that sixteen witnesses were 
necessary to their validity, that of every deed there 
existed an original document and an antigraphon (du- 
plicate), that purchases and sales were effected with 
the utmost circumstantiality and caution, and that the 
persons concerned were as minutely described as in 
lettres de cachet. All the documents of this kind be- 
gan with the year ^f, i. e. abot re, solar year, month 
and day of the reigning sovereign ; they make men- 
tion of his predecessors and of the priests and priest- 
esses then living. No American deed can offer great- 
er security than one of these papyri of the ancient 
Egyptians. Precisely the same arrangement is to be 
observed in the legal documents from the time of 



THE PHGENIX AND THE PHCENIX-PERIODS. 75 



Psametichus, Darius, Xerxes, Ramses (1650 B. C.) and 
Amos (1800 B. C), which are preserved in the Muse- 
um of Turin. Dr. Abbott's collection contains six 
documents of this kind, and even a large papyrus, 
which is not yet cut asunder, and presents both the 
original document and its antigraphon. These are 
all from the time of the Lagidae ; more particularly 
from the age of Ptolemaeus Epiphanes, two hundred 
and two years B. C, and will furnish many a valuable 
contribution to the history of jurisprudence. 



YII. THE PHCENIX AND THE PHCENIX-PERIODS 
OF THE ANCIENTS. 

Nearly all the copies of the sacred writings of 
Egypt contain, as is evident from the Turin Todten- 
buch, p. XXXL, Dr. Abbott's papyrus, No. 766, among 
others, a religious consideration of two birds Penoh 

^^■^[^and CJioli ^^% placed side by side, 
and distinguished from each other only by the 
long feathers which adorn the head of the former. 
These two birds have reference to the well-known myth 
concerning the Phoenix. For the word Penoh is iden- 
tical with Phoeni:^, or Phoeni ; and Hermapion trans- 
lates the picture of that bird sitting on his funeral 
pile ^^L , which is to be observed in the Flaminian 

Obelisk, by Phoenix. The name Choli corresponds ex- 
actly with the name of Phoenix in the book of Job, 
where it is Chol^ and also with the later Coptic Al~ 



76 THE PHCEx\IX AND THE PHCENIX-PERIODS 

loe^ (the Phoenix). Now what may be the true mean- 
ing of the ancient myth concerning the Phoenix, 
which has been preserved and transmitted upon mo- 
numents and coins even down to the time of St. Cae- 
cilia.* The Ancients themselves, who were well ac- 
quainted with the import of this myth, give us only 
the following brief account of it. There is a bird, of 
which there exists but one specimen in the world, and 
which comes flying from the East once in the course 
of six hundred and fifty-one years, in company with 
many other birds ; and after its arrival in the city of 
the sun (Heliopolis), there burns itself up about the 
time of the vernal equinox, whereupon it rises again 
out of its ashes, and flies away again, to return no 
more till after the expiration of six hundred and 
fifty-one years. This Phoenix made his first appear- 
ance in the reign of Sesostris, a king of the twelfth 
Egyptian Dynasty, about 2500 B. C, then again, dur- 
ing the reign of Amos, in the eighteenth Dynasty, about 
1900 B. C, and, the last time, amid great festivities, 
in the sixth year of Claudius (50 A. C.) There was, 
however, also a pseudo-Phoenix (Choi), which consign- 
ed itself to the flames as early as the autumn of the 
^YQ hundred and thirty-ninth year, and besides made 
its appearance repeatedly during the interval. The 
latter event occurred under the Consuls A. 310 B. C, 
under the king Evergetes I., under the Consuls 37 after 

* Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenl. Gesellschaft, 1849; p. 63, with 
my treatise : Die Phoenixperiode. Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte 
und Zeitrechnung ; p. 250. 



OF THE ANCIENTS. 77 



Christ, under Trajan, during the second and sixth 
year of the reign of the Antoninus Pius, under Cara- 
calla, Carus, Constantine the Great, Constantine II. and 
others. — It has now been ascertained, that this singu- 
lar myth signified nothing rn^ore than the transit of 
Mermiry across the disk of the sun. The bird Phoe- 
nix was an emblem of Mercury, as we are informed 
by the Isis-table (Tabula Bembina^*^). There is but 
one planet Mercury, as there was but one Phoenix. 
The city of the sun, in which the Phoenix was accus- 
tomed to consign himself to the flames, is simply the 
sun, or the house of the god Sun, in w^hich Mercury 
during his passage through the disk, may be said to 
be consumed by fire. As the Phoenix burns himself up 
every six hundred and fifty-one years, about the time 
of the vernal equinox, so Mercury subjects himself to 
a similar process every six hundred and fifty-one 
years, on nearly the same days of the year. Mercury 
passes always from east to west across the disk of the 
sun : it is exactly the same with the Phoenix. Whilst 
Mercury enters upon his passage across the disk of the 
sun, he is attended by a multitude of stars ; and in a 
similar manner the Phoenix is accompanied by a mul- 
titude of minor birds (flying stars). As the Phoenix 
came forth anew out of his ashes in the sixth year of 
Claudius, under Amos and Sesostris, and always at the 
expiration of six hundred and fifty-one years, so Mer- 
cury was likewise, as it were, born again in the years 
60 A. C, in 1904 and 2555 B. C. Precisely, as another 

* Astronomia ^gyptiaca ; Tab. VIII. No. II. 



78 THE PHCENIX AND THE PHCENIX-PERIODS. 

and diiferent Phoenix consigns himself to the flames 
in the autumn, always after the expiration of five 
hundred and thirty-nine years, and, according to cir- 
cumstances, still more frequently ; so also does Mer- 
cury. Like the Phoenix, Mercury has also made his 
transits over the sun's disk on October tenth A. 310 B. 
C, on April eleventh A. 227 B. C, on April thirteenth 
A. D. 37, on April nineteenth A. D. 109, on October 
twenty fifth A. D. 138, on April eighteenth A. D. 142, 
on October twenty-fourth A. D. 217, on October twenty- 
third A. D. 283, on April twentieth A. D. 326, and on 
April twenty-second A. D. 339. In a word, there was 
a Phoenix-period and a Mercurial-period of six hun- 
dred and fifty-one and of five hundred and thirty- 
nine years. In all the years, in which the Phoenix 
had destroyed himself with fire in the city of the sun, 
Mercury had likewise performed his transits over the 
sun. 

But it will be asked, what benefit can we derive 
from these astronomical observations of the Egyp- 
tians, which go back as far as the year 2555 B. C. ? 
They show us, in the first place, how far this nation 
had already at that time advanced in the science of 
astronomy. And, moreover, as transits of Mercury 
very rarely occur and are based upon infallible calcu- 
lations; these facts, as they are distinctly stated to 
have occurred in particular specified years of certain 
sovereigns, will serve to rectify ancient history and 
chronology. They will, as we shall see hereafter, as- 
sist us in showing, that Petavius, the originator of the 



THE APIS-MUMMIES IN EGYPT AND NEW- YORK. 79 

chronology now generally in usc^ has put all the events 
of Greek and Roman history one year, and, respective' 
ly, two years too high i and that the whole history of 
Egypt, as determined hy Boeckh, Bunsen and Lep' 
sius will have to move down three thousand years, 

yni. THE APIS-MUMMIES IN EGYPT AND 
NEW-YORK. 

It is true, that no other Egyptian Museum is- as yet in 
possession of such an Apis-Mummy. But what infor- 
mation can we gain from these ancient bulls ? The 
voice of no bull is at all agreeable to the ear; and yet 
from these we shall learn very agreeable things. We 
learn from them, in the first place, how admirably the 
ancient Egyptians understood the art of preserving 
dead bodies for thousands of years. How can they 
have effected this ? Herodotus affirms, that they em- 
ployed olvoq (poLvcKiog, and that the process occupied 
the space of several months. But what may have been 
this palm-wine, which is the literal translation of the 
word ? This substance was, as we now know, nothing 
more, than pyroligneous acid, which is found in the 
smoke of burning wood, and contains a large quan- 
tity of creosote. Thus the mummies of the ancients, 
specimens of which are to be found in Dr. Abbott's 
Museum and at St. Louis in Wyman's Hall, were no- 
thing more than our smoked hams. Creosote and pyro- 
ligneous acid possess the property of desiccating meat or 
flesh completely in the process of time, and of pre- 



80 THE APIS-MUMMLES IN EGYPT AND NEW-YORK. 

serving it against putrefaction and worms. If the 
practice, besides, should be revived of administering 
the flesh of mummies as medicine, to which purpose 
our ancestors probably appropriated many an entire 
mammy, then these three bulls in Br. Abbott's Mu- 
seum would alone suffice, to supply all the apotheca- 
ry-shops of America with pills three thousand years 
old. 

But these Apis-Mummies have yet another much 
more important value, even in confirming the truth 
of the Sacred Scriptures.* The Egyptians are known 
to have computed their time, in the transactions of 
ordinary life according to vague years of three hun- 
dred and sixty-five days, without any intercalary day. 
Hence it happened, that the first day of the year, 
would come one day too early once in every four years ; 
and so it went on, till after the expiration of one thou- 
sand four hundred and sixty-one vague years, the new- 
year's-day, which was the first day of the month Thoth, 
would again coincide with our twentieth of July. 
On the same day the dog-star Sirius rose in Egypt 
shortly before sun- rise. Hence it came, that the Egyp- 
tians denominated the period of one thousand four 
hundred and sixty-one vague years, which began in 
the year, in which the dog-star rose heliacally (i. e. be- 
fore sun-rise) on the first of Thoth, or on our twen- 
tieth of July, a canicular period, or Periodus Sothica. 
Now these canicular periods commenced on the twen- 

* Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte und Zeitrechnung ; p. 10. 



THE APIS-RIUMMIES IN EGYPT AND NEW- YORK. 81 

tieth of July in the years 2782 and 1322 B. C, and the 
last time, in the year 139 A. C. 

About the year 1322 B. C. the Egyptians made the 
important discovery, that at the commencement of 
the second canicular-period, on the first of Thoth 1322 
B. C, the moon was in its first quarter, exactly as it 
had been on the first of Thoth, twenty-five years be- 
fore ; in short, tliat after the lapse of twenty-five 
vague years the moon presented again precisely the 
same shape, on the same day, and at the same hour. 
This observation, which proved conclusively, that the 
Creator had from eternity so ordained the course of 
the sun and moon, that after the lapse of twenty-five 
years, they would again be at exactly the same dis- 
tances from each other, appeared of such importance 
to the pious Egyptians, that, for this reason, they in- 
stituted a division of time into periods of twenty-five 
years, and expressed this sacred period by a living 
symbol, by the Apis-Bull. The bull was among the 
Egyptians an emblem of the sun ; the apis-bull, how- 
ever, representing, as it did, at the same time also the 
moon, and the conjunction of sun and moon on the 
first of Thoth, required to have, marked upon it tho 
symbolic signs of the moon. The Egyptians there- 
fore selected for the worship of Apis, who, according 
to Plutarch, was to them a living image of the divine 
wisdom, of the soul of Osiris, a black bull, which had 
a crescent on its side and a wart in the shape of a 
beetle (which likewise designated the moon) under 
the tongue. This apis-bull was worshipped in a 



82 THE APIS-MUMMIES IN EGYPT AND NEW-YOKK. 

temple of his own at Memphis, and at the expiration 
of twenty-five years, when the apis-period was at an 
end, he was killed, embalmed in the shape of a 
mummy, and in commemoration of the quarter of a 
century just past, solemnly interred for preservation 
in one of the apis-catacomhs. An apis-catacomb of 
this description, full of apis-mummies and inscrip- 
tions, was discovered a few years ago by Mariette in 
the vicinity of Cairo, the old Memphis, where the 
temple of the Apis stood. 

But the question now arises, in what years the 
apis-periods began. This question is answered by 
several coins, which were struck under the Roman 
emperors after the commencement of the third cani- 
cular period, and which dated the beginning of the 
apis-period from the same year, with which the cani- 
cular period had begun, i. e. the year 139 A. C. The 
apis-periods therefore commenced simultaneously 
with the canicular periods, 139 A. C. and 1322 B. C. 
on the first day of the month Thoth, as is manifested 
from the moon-crescent on the side of the apis-bull, 
and from the nature of the case itself. This is a 
fact of great importance in ancient history. For, the 
ancient historians record in several places, in what 
years of the Persian, Greek and Roman sovereigns an 
apis-period commenced again. And thus it has been 
ascertained, that the unfortunate Petavius, whom all 
our historians have, to this day, implicitly followed, 
has put the dates of all these sovereigns too far back 
by two years. Thus Alexander the Great did not die 



THE APIS-MUMMIES IN EGYPT AND NEW-YORK. 83 

324 or 323, but not until 321 years B. C. ; the seventh 
year of Cambyses was not 723, but 721 B. C; Cyrus 
did not ascend the throne in 538, but in 534 B. C. ; 
as is proved by still other incontrovertible facts, espe- 
cially by the eclipses of this time.* 

This goes in the next place to establish and confirm 
a biblical tradition, which ought never to have been 
so rashly and unscrupulously assailed. The prophets 
and chroniclers assure us repeatedly, that the Baby- 
lonian captivity lasted seventy entire years. But 
according to Petavius we can not even make out sixty- 
six years, simply because he had put Cyrus four years 
too early. But as Cyrus is now brought down to a 
date by four years later, that is to the 534th year B, 
C, the Babylonian captivity actually did extend 
through a period of seventy years. In the spring of 
the year 533 the Hebrews returned to Jerusalem, and 
on the 25th of Sept. of the year 533 B. C. on a Satur- 
day, the twenty-four classes of priests commenced 
again their weekly rounds of duty, until, on the 22d 
Sept. of the second year before the commencement 
of the Christian Era, the birth of John the Baptist 
was announced to Zacharias, who belonged to the 
eighth class of priests, to the class Abia. 

From these corrections of the ancient history, it 
likewise follows, as many have already surmised, that 
the entire historical canon of Ptolemy down to Titus 

* German translation of Layard's Nineveh, Leipz. 1854, 2d edition, 
with my treatise : Die aegyptischen Alterthiimer in Nimrod ; Berich- 
tigungen der alten Gesch. u. Zeitrech., p. 11. 



84 THE APIS-MUMMIES IN EGYPT AND NEW- YORK. 

is entirely erroneous. Consequently, the eclipses, re- 
corded by the ancients, must have been different from 
those, which Ptolemy calculated; and our lunar 
tables must be based upon a different motion of lunar 
nodes from that assumed by Ptolemy. In the year 
180 A. C. Ptolemy undertook to construct the first 
lunar tables, in which he endeavored to determine 
the elements of the lunar motion. With this end in 
view, he started upon the basis of the earliest eclipses 
of the moon and his own observations. He found, 
however, in older authorities nothing further than the 
bare announcement of the fact, that in certain years 
of the reign of certain kings, as far back as 721 B. 
C. fourteen different eclipses of the moon had been 
witnessed. But in prosecuting his task, he had the 
misfortune to be guided by erroneous chronological 
tables, in consequence of which he placed the eclip- 
ses in question into wrong years, and necessarily deter- 
mined the place of the moon's nodes incorrectly. The 
later astronomers as far down as the time of Burck- 
hardt and Damoiseau, without any regard whatever 
to the facts of history, labored under the delusion, 
that those lunar eclipses, mentioned by Ptolemy, had 
been observed to the nicety of a minute by the Baby- 
lonians themselves ; and hence their repetition of the 
errors of Ptolemy. We can easily conceive that these 
new lunar-tables, which were based upon entirely false 
premises, could only for a short time correspond with 
the observations of later eclipses. It was therefore 
necessary to construct new tables every one hundred 



THE ASTRONOMY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 85 

years, and even still more frequently. We now com- 
prehend at last, why it is that all the lunar tables thus 
far in use, are not in harmony with the most recent 
observations of eclipses, as is proved by the total 
eclipse of the sun which occurred in Germany in 1851, 
and also in what place the lunar node must really 
have been in 721 B. C— In the year 800 B. C. the 
moon's node was nearly 8° shorter than Ptolemy cal- 
culated.=^ 

It is obvious that this fact is one of the utmost im- 
portance in astronomy. We now also know the dgite 
of the celebrated total eclipse of the sun, so long an 
object of anxious inquiry, mentioned by Thales, as 
having occurred during the battle between the Medes 
and Lydians on the river Halys in Asia-minor. It did 
not take place 610 B. C, according to which the mo- 
ther of Cyrus would have been but twelve years of 
age at the time of her marriage ; but on the 18th of 
May, 622 B. C, which would make Mandane twenty- 
three years of age. 

IX. THE ASTRONOMY OF THE ANCIENT EGYP- 
TIANS. 
Diodorus Siculus reports (I. c. 81 — 88) as an eye- 
witness, that the Eg}^ptians " from time immemorial 
had been in the habit of making and recording astro- 

* Jahn's Astronomische Unterhaltungen, Leipz. 1853, No. 23, p. 177, 
with my treatise : Beitrage zur Geschichte der Astronomic. — Klotz, 
Archiv fiir Philologik u. Padagogik, 1848, p. 586, with my treatise: 
Ueber die Sonnen- und Mondfinsternisse der Alten. — Berichtigungen 
der alten Gesch. u. Zcitrechn., p. 28. 



86 THE ASTRONOMY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 

nomical observations on all the planets." Simpli- 
cius (p. 27) saw in Egypt astronomical monuments 
that were older than 2000 years. An example of this 
is furnished us by the above-mentioned papyrus in 
Dr. Abbott's Museum, which besides, is remarkable 
for this reason also, that it contains demotic expla- 
nations, and that it is the only one of the kind at 
present known to us. But in what way did the 
ancient Egyptians express and preserve their astro- 
nomical observations ? In answering this inquiry, 
we find, in the first place, among the ancients a 
statement to the effect, that they designated the 
seven planets by means of the images of their 
seven supreme divinities, the Kabiri ; and the 
twelve signs of the Zodiac by means of the images 
of their twelve great gods. The ancients, in con- 
sequence of their ignorance of the telescope, were 
acquainted with only seven planets, arranged in a 
series according to their several velocities, thus : 
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and the 
Moon. The Zodiac is the belt of the heavens, 
within which these seven planets perform their 
perpetual revolutions. The middle of this belt is 
the line on which the sun advances, or the eclip- 
tic, a circle, which, like all others, was divided into 
three hundred and sixty degrees. The Zodiac is 
divided into twelve sections of thirty degrees, and 
each of these sections contained a group of stars, 
into which the imagination conjured figures of men^ 

t Systema Astrononiite ^gyptiacaj quadripcotitura. Lips. 1833. 



THE ASTRONOMY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 87 

animals and utensils ; whence the name of the Zo- 
diac (which is literally the circle, or belt of ani- 
mals). These images or signs of the Zodiac are in 
their regular order as follows : Aries, Taurus, Ge- 
mini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, 
Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces ; their course, when 
observed with the north-pole behind the spectator, 
is, like that of the sun, moon and planets, from 
right to left. Each of these signs of thirty degrees 
in length was again subdivided into three smaller 
sections of ten degrees (DecuriaB), into five sections 
of different lengths (Horia), into twelve sections of 
2i degrees (Dodecatemoria) and lastly in thirty sec- 
tions of one degree (Moirae) ; and every one of these 
subdivisions of the Zodiac was presided over respec- 
tively by one of the inferior divinities. 

It was by means of these divinities and their 
symbols, therefore, that the Egyptians expressed 
their astronomical observations, and more particu- 
larly the position of the seven planets at the time 
of memorable events. They brought the images of 
the seven planetary gods in connexion with the 
images of the twelve zodiacal gods and with the 
subordinate deities of each sign with which a pla- 
net stood in conjunction. This would, of course, be 
accomplished in several ways, as we can show by 
a few examples. It is scarcely necessary to state 
beforehand, that with the assistance of our astro- 
nomical tables, these ancient planetary configurations 
can easily be calculated with mathematical certain- 



88 THE ASTRONOMY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 

ty to the year and day. For, a planetary configu- 
ration, showing only the signs of the Zodiac in 
which the seven planets formerly stood at a par- 
ticular time, can, according to well-known astrono- 
mical laws, occur but once in 2146 years ; but pla- 
netary configurations, showing the Decuriae, Horia, 
Dodecatemoria and degrees in which the seven 
planets formerly stood, can occur but once in the 
entire course of history, nay, even in millions of 
years. All the events of ancient history, to which 
such planetary configurations, as observed by the 
ancients themselves, are linked, are by means of 
these planetary configurations chronologically deter- 
mined with incontrovertible certainty. And this is 
of the utmost importance for the correction of an- 
cient history. Several hundred such planetary con- 
figurations have been preserved, partly in the histo- 
rical works of the ancients, partly on their monu- 
ments, on the pyramids, on temples, in the cata- 
combs, on the sarcophagi, mummy-chests, tablets of 
stone, papyrus-scrolls and other objects. Among the 
Egyptians they go back as far as the year 2781 
B. C, among the Greeks as far as 778 B. C, among 
the Romans as far as 752 B. C. ; among the oriental 
nations as far as the years 8447 and 5871 B. C; 
Among the most remarkable of them are the fol- 
lowing. 



THE ZODIAC OF DENDERA IN PARIS. 



8^ 



X, THE ZODIAC OF DENDERA IN PARIS. 

In the year 1799 the French savants who accom- 
panied Buonaparte to Egypt, discovered on the 
ceiling of the little temple of Dendera, a carved 
representation of the heavens with the signs of the 
Zodiac and other figures. 'After this stone-slab, 
which formed the ceiling of the temple, had been 
cut out with a saw, and transported to Paris, the 
grand discovery was made, that this monument 
was at least 17,000 years old, and that the flood 
and the creation in the Bible were myths. From 
that time to the year 1833, upwards of fifty works 
of this character have been published. This pre- 
adamite monument soon created so great a sensation 
that it was found expedient to make it invisible in 
Paris, by locking it up in a dark room. Meanwhile 
the key to the astronomical inscriptions of the an- 
cient Egyptians had been found and published in 
my Astronomia iBgyptiaca, Lips., 1833, from which it 
appeared, that this Zodiac of Dendera contains a 
planetary configuration, by means of which the 
exact date of this much discussed monument could 
be determined by its own evidence. We observe, 
namely, besides other heavenly constellations, ex- 
pressed by certain figures, the twelve signs of the 
Zodiac, and also the images of the seven planetary 
gods, which are distinguished from all the rest by 
the circumstance that they, like the planetary gods 
on all other astronomical inscriptions, bear in their 



90 •%'HE ISIS-TABLE, OR TABULA BEMBINA AT TURIN. 

hands the sceptre {zor, i. e. Power). ][ We find 
therefore, that at the time of the constrnction of 
the temple of Dendera, Saturn stood in the sign 
Virgo, Jupiter in Libra, Mars in Gemini, the Sun, 
Venus and Mercury in Aquarius, and the Moon in 
Taurus. " For a copy of the Zodiac, see the Descrip- 
tion de I'Egypte, Ant' Vol. V. Every planetary con- 
figuration of the kind can be easily calculated ; and 
what was now the result with reference to the date 
in question ? It was not the year 17,000 B. C, but 
the 11th of February of the 37th year A. C, which 
was the year of the birth of Nero. This emperor 
had, according to the account of the Roman writers, 
constructed and restored many temples in Egypt, 
and Nero's name is even at the present time still 
to be found on every side of the temple at Den- 
dera, and half of it even on the Zodiac at Paris. 
Thus has ended the merry tragedy of the Zodiac 
at Dendera in 1833 A. C* 



XI. THE ISIS-TABLE, OR TABULA BEMBINA 

AT TURIN. 

Two hundred years ago a magnificent bronze 
tablet or plate, inlaid with a great many silver 
figures of the gods, was dug up in the city of 
Rome, and came into the possession of cardinal 

* Some more notices are contained in* Gersdorf, Repertorium der 
deutsch. und ausl. Literat., Lips. 1849, Vol. II. p. 1. — Der "Lutherische 
Herold," New-York, Jan. 1st, 1856,— "Lutheran Standard," Columbus, 
O. AprU 4th, 1856. 



THE SARCOPHAGUS OF OSIMANDYA AT LONDON.^* 91 

Bembi, whence it has been designated ever since, 
as the Tabula B6mbina. After an examination of 
many years, the discovery was made, that this table 
had been executed as early as the time of Moses, 
and that it contained the secrets of the magnetic 
needle, or, according to others, the mysteries ot 
Isis, or the original twelve commandments of Mo- 
ses, &c. A closer examination in the year 1833, 
however, led to the conclusion, that this table re- 
presented in its twelve squares nothing more than 
the twelve signs of the Zodiac, expressed by means 
of the twelve superior deities of the Egyptians, and 
that it furthermore contained in, certain squares or 
signs the figures of the seven Kabiri or- planets. It 
was thus found that this antemosaic and mag- 
netic Isis-table exhibits the planetary configuration 
of the year 54 A. C, in which year Trajan was 
born. And it actually contains the names : Caesar 
Trajanus and those of his wife and daughter Pla- 
tina and Sabina. For a fac-simile of the Tabula Bem- 
bina and the explanation of the whole, see my As- 
tronomia ^gyptiaca, Tab. YIIL 

XII. THE SARCOPHAGUS OF OSIMANDYA AT 

LONDON. 

About forty years ago Belzoni discovered near 
Thebes, in the valley Biban el Moluk (the graves 
of the kings) a large catacomb, which had never 
been opened, and which contained thousands of 
mummies : with these, however, he cooked Billah 



92 ^^ THE SARCOPHAGUS OF OSLMANDYA AT LONDON. 

for himself and his fellahs. In the innermost cham- 
ber, however, he found a costly colossal, royal sarco- 
phagus made of alabaster, and covered both exter- 
nally and internally with inscriptions and images of 
divinities, which subsequently was brought into the 
museum of the architect Soane at London, through 
the agency of consul Salt. A fac-simile has been 
published by Sharpe (Egyptian inscriptions, London, 
1840, No. v., pi. 61 — 67). This sarcophagus once con- 
tained the lifeless remains of Osimandya, > > 8 ^ ^ 
the greatest king of Egypt, and father of Ramses the 
Great, ySl (J>^ ^ffjO the last king of the XVIIIth 
dynasty. To this same Osimandya and Ramses was 
dedicated the obelisk, translated by Hermapion, now 
standing near the Porta del popolo at Rome. The 
sarcophagus of this Ramses the Great, was likewise 
discovered by Belzoni in a catacomb of the vicinity. 
It is now in Paris ; und in 1829 I found its lid or 
cover at Cambridge, in England. The diagrams of 
both these catacombs on papyrus-scrolls of the same 
age, showing all their chambers and their length, 
breadth and height, was found at Turin by myself in 
the year 1827. On these two sarcophagi are inscribed 
the planetary configurations at the birth of the two 
kings already named, from the years 1731 and 1691 
B. C. The planetary configuration of Osimandya on 
Soane's sarcophagus is likewise preserved on the 
colossal ruins near Karnak in the vicinity of Thebes. 
It follows from this, that the ancient Osimandyeum, 
the largest edifice of antiquity, and minutely describ- 



THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION OF MENES, &C. 93 

ed by Diodorus, was, what is now known as the ruins 
of Karnak. Its gigantic columns, which are so large 
that one hundred men can find standing-room upon one 
of its capitals, are still standing to this very day, 
simply because the vandal-hand of Cambyses was un- 
able to overturn them."^ 



XIIL THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION OF 
MENES IN EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS, 

Among the greatest curiosities of Dr. Abbott's Mu- 
seum in New- York is a necklace containing the name 
of Menes Athothis. (\ ' ' This work of art reminds 
us of the founder of the Egyptian empire, of the first 
king of the land, concerning whom there has been 
so much contention during the last three centuries. 
It is a fortunate circumstance, that the Egyptians 
made an observation of the fdanetary configuration 
at the time of Menes' arrival in Egypt, and that it 
has been preserved for us on their temples and in 
their sacred writings even to the present day. We are 
at present already acquainted with sixteen temples 
and monuments, which exhibit a representation of 
this very planetary configuration of Menes. On the 
majority of them the ancient Menes stands opposite 
to the row of the gods, his only garment being a 
tiger-skin ; on others his person and his name are ex- 

* For a copy of the Karnak-inscription and the explanation of both 
planetary configurations, see my Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte, 
p. 179, 187 and Tab. I. 



94 THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION OF MENES, &C. 

pressed by means of the crescent ^^z^^ i. e. the letters 
MN 01 Menes. The most concise expression of this 
planetary constellation is to be found on the said Osi- 
mandyeum near Karnak from the year 1700 B. C. 
For a copy of this astronomical inscription and its 
explanation, see my " Berichtigungen der alten Ge- 
schichte," p. 198 and Tab. I. Each of the seven pla- 
netary gods is seated on a chair, together with one of 
the twelve gods, in whose sign the planet happened to 
stand at the time. We therefore find the Sun in 
Cancer 0°, the Moon in Scorpio, Saturn in Sagittarius, 
Jupiter in Aries, Mars in Sagittarius 10°, Venus in 
Cancer 10", Mercury in Cancer 5°. This planetary 
configuration, which has occurred but onceiin history, 
has reference to the year 2781 B. C, to the 16th of 
the Julian July, which was at that time the day of the 
summer-solstice. 

It is by such methods, therefore, that the Egyptians 
expressed and transmitted their astronomical obser- 
vations from Menes down to Constantine. Several 
hundreds of them have been preserved to this very 
day. They determine the natal year of the Pharaohs, 
of priests and private individuals, for example, from 
the years 2781, 1833, 1632, 1573, 1524, 1104, 787, 661, 
631 B. C, and so on. 



PLANETARY CONFIGURATION Oj GREEKS AND ROMANS. 95 

XIF, PLANETARY OONFiaUEATIONS OF THE 
GREEKS AND ROMANS. 

By means of the key to the astronomy of the an- 
cient Egyptians we have also found the key to the 
Greek and Roman astronomical monuments. We are 
already familiar with the manner in which the Greeks 
and Romans denominated their seven planets, and ex- 
pressed them by means of the images of their seven 
Kabiri (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury and 
Luna). To which signs of the Zodiac the twelve Dii 
majores of the Greeks and Romans related, the an- 
cients have themselves told us. It was consequently 
easy to explain also the astronomical monuments ot 
the GreeSs and Romans. Examples of this descrip- 
tion are found in their authors, on their temples, 
houses, altars, Etruscan vases, lamps, and other monu- 
ments of antiquity. Among the Greek planetary 
configurations, which were denominated lepal KXtvat 
(sacrae lecticae), we may mention the Olympian double- 
altars from the year 778 B. C, which was the com- 
mencement of the Olympiads ; the planetary configu- 
ration on the statue of the Olympic Zeus 490 B. C, 
having reference to the battle of Marathon ; the pla- 
netary configuration on the frieze of the Parthenon 
from the year 480 B. C, referring to the battle of 
Salamis ; and so on. 

In precisely the same way the Lectisternia of the 
Romans, mentioned by Livy and others, likewise de- 
noted planetary configurations ; as, for example, the 



96 THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION AT THE COMMENCEMENT 

Lectisternium 397 B. C. under the tribunes Augurinus 
and Priscus, and that of 217 B. C. after the battle 
against Hannibal near lake Thrasimenus. The Ro- 
man altars (Arae) contain the planetary configurations 
at the birth of the Roman epaperors, to whom they 
were dedicated. We thus find on the Ara Albani the 
nativity of Augustus of the year 63 B. C, on the 
Piiteolian plinth that of Tiberius, of the year 40 B. C; 
on the Capitolian puteole and on the Ara Borghese 
that of Claudius, of the year 9 B. C, on the Gabinian 
Ara that of Yespasian, nine years after Christ ; and so 
forth. This subject has been treated more in extenso 
in my " Berichtigungen der alten Greschichte und Zeit- 
rechnung, Leipz. 1856. All the above-m^ioned as- 
tronomical and mythological monuments nave been 
published by Winckelmann and other antiquarians. 

XV. THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATIONS AT 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FOUR AGES 
OF THE WORLB. 

Astronomy is, according to the accounts of the an- 
cients, coeval with the human family. Josephus al- 
ready assures us, that Seth was the originator of this 
science, and the Egyptians trace it back to a period as 
early. That astronomy extends back to a period prior 
to the time of Noah, is manifest beyond a doubt 
from the fact, that among all the nations of antiquity 
we meet with the same Zodiac, and the same arbitrary 
divisions of it, with the so-called Hypsomata of the 



OF T£IE FOUR AGES OF THE WORLD. 97 

planets, that is to say, certain remarkable degrees of 
the Zodiac, and others. Among these ancient nations 
we may instance particularly the Romans, Greeks, 
Egyptians, Ethiopians, Arabians, Phoenicians, Chal- 
deans, Babylonians, Hindoos, Chinese, Japanese, Per- 
sians, and even Mexicans. It will consequently not be 
surprising to us that antiquity should have trans- 
mitted to us astronomical observations of a far earlier 
date ; observations, which, in whatever way we may 
explain them, go back as far as the creation of man. 
To these belong the four ages of the world and the 
planetary configurations observed at their respective 
commencements. 

All the ancient nations were acquainted with the 
gradual^volution of the entire starry heavens from 
West to East ; and their great world-period of 36,000 
years was based upon this fact. What means this 
period ? On the day of the vernal equinox, for in- 
stance, in the year 1784 A. C. the disk of the sun may 
have covered a certain stl|p of the ecliptic ; but on 
the same day of the present year 1857 A. C. the same 
star stood beside the sun towards the east ; it removed 
during these seventy-two years one degree, or two 
diameters of the moon. This phenomenon is termed 
the precession of the equinoctial points. As the an- 
cients had no telescopes, they were unable to deter-, 
mine this phenomenon with sufficient accuracy, and 
assumed that the heavens moved but one degree in 
every hundred years. Now,, as the ecliptic, in which 
the sun performs its course{is divided into three hun- 
5 



98 THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION AT THE COMMENCEMENT 

dred and sixty degrees, the ancients calculated thirty- 
six thousand years for the revolution of the entire 
heavens ; and as the ecliptic was divided into twelve 
signs of thirty degrees each, the time of the preces- 
sion of the heavens through a sign, or thirty degrees, 
would consequently be three thousand years. The 
periods during which the equinoctial point passes 
through the different signs of thirty degrees, consti- 
tuted the basis of the so-called ages of the world 
among the ancients. The Greeks and Romans ex- 
pressed these ages by means of the reigns of the 
gods. In the first, or golden age, Uranus was on the 
throne ; in the second, or silver age, Saturn ; in the 
third, or brazen, Jupiter ; in the fourth, or i]^, Mars ; 
that is, consequently, in the four periods oi time in 
which the equinoctial point passed through the signs 
Gemini, Taurus, Aries and Pisces, in which at the 
present time the sun stands on the day of the vernal 
equinox. Each of these four ages of the world com- 
prised, as we have already shown, a period of three 
thousand years in round numbers ; as, however, the 
equinoctial point moves backward a degree even in 
seventy-two years, the exact number of years for each 
world-age is two thousand one hundred and fortv-six. 
We are now ready for the inquiry, in what years and 
on what days these four periods of the world may 
have begun. It is self-evident that this inquiry is of 
the utmost importance, inasmuch as these ages among 
all the ancient nations begin with the very year and 
the day of the creation and are based upon mathema- 



OF THE FOUR AGES OF THE WORLD. 99 

tical and incontestible truth. Now the ancients have 
preserved the observations of the planetary configu- 
rations, as they took place at the commencement of 
these four periods respectively.* The planetary con- 
figuration at the commencement of the fourth age of 
the world, in which we still live, is to be found in the 
later Yedas, the sacred writings of the Hindoos. It 
relates to the year 598 A. C. ; and in that same year 
the equinoctial point passed out of Aries into Pisces. 
The planetary configuration at the beginning of the 
third age is preserved in the Ramayana, the celebrated 
epopee of the ancient Hindoos, and relates to the year 
1579 B. C, to the same year, in which the equinoctial 
point passed out of Taurus into Aries. The planetary 
configuration at the commencement of the second 
age is recorded in the Zendavesta, the sacred scrip- 
tures of the Parsees, and relates to the year 3725 B. C, 
in which the equinoctial point passed out of Gemini 
into Taurus. And lastly, the planetary configuration 
at the commencement of the first age of the world 
has been preserved to us by all the nations of antiquitj^ 
We find it in the above-mentioned Hypsomata planeta- 
rum (beginnings of the planets) of the Romans, Greeks, 
Egyptians, Arabians, Persians, Chaldaeans, Hindoos and 
others. The most explicit account of it is given by 
the translator of the chronicle of Ahu Djafar Moha- 
med Tahari^ an old Arabian writer. It is as follows ; 



" The following expositions are given more in oxtenso in my " Chro- 
nologia Sacra," Leipz. 1846, p. 149. 



100 THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION, &C. 

" know then, that the astronomers Aristotle, Hippar- 
chus and other great masters of this science before us 
make mention of the time which is to elapse from 
Adam (peace be with him) to the day of judgment. — 
Those masters inform us that at the time when the 
Almighty and Incomparable One created the moon, 
the sun and planets, every one of these heavenly 
bodies remained motionless in its place, until the 
command went forth from God. At that time Saturn 
stood in Libra 21°, Jupiter in Cancer 15°, Mars in 
Capricornus 28°, the Sun in Aries 0°, (others incorrect- 
ly 19^), Yenus in Pisces 27°, Mercury in Pisces 27° 
(others incorrectly in Yirgo 15°) and the Moon in 
Taurus 8°. This was the beginning of the wprld^ and 
since that time the planets have never again heen in 
the same position. — And so it is ; for, such a planetary 
configuration can occur but once in millions of years. 
It took place in no other years and on no other day 
than the year 6871 B. C, and on 10th of Julian May, 
which at that time was the day of the vernal equinox 
and a Sunday. On that day the sun stood near the 
first star of Gemini (Castor and Pollux), which the 
celestial globes of the Arabians call Adam and Eve. 
As for the rest, it will be perceived that these epochs 
of the four ages of the world : 5871, 3725, 1579 B. C, 
and 598 A. C. are separated from each other by an in- 
terval of 2146 years, during which, as we have seen, 
the heavens advance through one sign of thirty 
degrees. It was the last age only that was made 
thirty years too long by the Hindoos. 



PLANETARY CONFIGUKATIOxX IN THE PRIMITIVE ALPHABET. 101 

Among the most ancient astronomical observations 
of our forefathers we have yet to mention 

XVI. THE PLANETARY CONFIGURATION IN 
THE PRIMITIVE ALPHABET. 

What may he the age of our alphabet, and in what 
year was it invented, or at any rate, did it receive 
its present arrangement ? Many are now of the opin- 
ion, that our alphabet was invented by Cadmus, the 
Phoenician, about 1500 B. C. ; that, consequently, at 
the time of Enoch and of Moses the art of writing 
was as yet unknown, and that consequently the Pen- 
tateuch could not have originated with Moses. But, 
as respects the Phoenician Cadmus, this ancient tra- 
dition rather imports, that we owe the alphabet to 
the " Phoenicians from eternity," as Pliny says, i. e. to 
the Noachida3 ; and that the name Cadmus rather 
signifies in Hebrew the Ancient or the Ancestor, con- 
sequently none other than our ancestor Noah. Eirst 
of all it is obvious to every one that even before the 
deluge, during the long interval from the creation un- 
til Noah, which embraced a period of no less than 
two thousand four hundred and twenty- four years, an 
alphabet of some kind must have existed. Eor the 
New Testament makes express mention of the book 
of Enoch : the Koran, the Vedas, the book of the Zen- 
davesta, the apocryphal writings of the Old Testa- 
ment, Hyginus, the Phoenician Sanchunjathon, the 
Chaldean Berosus, and others affirm that books and 



102 PLANETARY CONFIGURATION IN THE PRIMITIVE ALPHABET. 

an alphabet existed already before the flood, and that 
the latter was invented or newly arranged by Noah 
himself. These historical traditions are confirmed by 
the very :fact that all the alphabets of the world coin- 
cide with each other in point of the number, order, 
name, form and signification of the letters ; and con- 
sequently they must have originated at the time 
when there was as yet only one people in the world. 
All the ancient alphabets agree in respect of the first 
twenty-five letters ; and Plutarch has already remark- 
ed, that even the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyp- 
tians, whose literature goes back, as we have already 
seen, as far as the 666th year after the flood, also con- 
tained an alphabet of twenty-five letters, of which 
the first was A, as in all other alphabets. That in 
other countries a letter should have become obsolete 
and been eventually dropped entirely, or subsequent- 
ly some new letters appended to the last letter u, this 
can not be a matter of surprise. All the primitive 
alphabets commence with a, J), c, and end with 5, t, u. 
These twenty-five letters were originally pictures, or 
figures of objects belonging to ordinary life, from 
which they also derived their names ; and every let- 
ter expressed the sound with which its name began. 
The ancient A signifies a bulFs head, in the Hebrew 
alejph, and consequently expressed the vowel a. Now, 
if the alphabet had not been invented until 1900 
years after the deluge, then the Greeks would have 
adapted to their own language an alphabet of letters, 
of which the names and forms were entirely foreign 



PLANETARY CONFIGURATION IN THE PRIMITIVE ALPHABET. 103 

to tliem. In short, the agreement of all the ancient 
alphabets, among which we may likewise include the 
cuneiform letters of the Persians, Medes and Assy- 
rians, and the twenty- four radical signs of the Chinese 
and the Japanese, all go to confirm the tradition, 
according to which Noah rearranged and transmitted 
the primitive alphabet. 

To this we must add the special historical notices 
among the ancient Phoenicians, Chaldaeans, Greeks 
and others, according to which Noah, or his contem- 
poraries employed the alphabet to indicate the places 
of the seven planets in the Zodiac at the time of the 
flood, by means of the seven vowels.* The alphabets 
of the present time contain but ^ve or six vowels, but 
the ancient Egyptians still had seven ; and the two 
vowels e and e, which were afterwards dropped, had 
their place, according to the ancient Arabians, next 
to the Hebrew chet/ij the Latin L The Hebrews had, 
before their present system of vowels, invented by the 
Rabbis, 700 A. C, the same vowels as the Greeks, Ro- 
mans and other nations, as Jerome says, and the . 
Hebrew diphthongs prove.f The ancients still further 
specify to which particular planet each one of these 

* Seebode, Jahn und Klotz, Neue Jahrbucher fiir Philologie u. Pada- 
gogik, 1834, Supplem. II., Fasc. 4, with my treatise : Erklarung einer 
Stella in Sanchunjathon's Phonicische Geschichte bei Eusebius Praep. 
Evangel. I. 10. 

t This has been demonstrated in my pamphlet : Ueber die urspriing 
lichen Laute der hebraischen Buchstaben ; ein Beitrag zur Dialcctologie 
der Semitischen Volker, Leipz. 1824, and De pronunciatione literaruin 
Graecarum, 1824. 



104 PLANETARY CONFIGURATION IN THE PRIMITIVE ALPHABET. 

seven distinct vowels respectively referred, that is : 
a to the Moon, e to Venus, e to the Sun, e to Mercury, 
i to Mars, o to Jupiter, u to Saturn. That the seven 
vowels of the Noachian alphabet, as the ancients 
affirm, really expressed a planetary configuration, is 
evident from the very fact, that those vowels which 
are entirely distinct from the consonants, are not put 
in juxta-position, either at the commencement, or in 
the middle, or at the end of the alphabet, but scat- 
tered, like the planets in different points of the Zo- 
diac. 

Now, if these traditions are correct, then the alpha- 
bet must indicate the planetary configuration at the 
end of the deluge, namely on the 7th of Sept. 3447 
B. C. For, all the reliable traditions of antiquity, as 
we shall show hereafter, concur in the testimony, that 
the deluge ended in the year 8447 B. C. on the 7th 
day of September, on a Sabbath. If therefore the al- 
phabet was at that time a representation of the signs 
of the Zodiac, as Sanchunjathon and others expressly 
say ; then the twenty-five letters must be referred to 
the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and that in such a 
manner, as that the two first letters are placed in Ge- 
mini, which was then the first sign of the Zodiac, and 
so forth. We then obtain the following places of 
the planets: the Moon {a) in Gemini 0° — 15°, Venus 
(e) in Leo 0°— 15°, the Sun (e) in Virgo 15°— 80°, Mer- 
cury (e) in Libra 0°— 15°, Mars {i) in Scorpio 15°— 80°, 
Jupiter {p) in Aquarius 15° — 80°, Saturn {%l) in Ge- 
mini 0° — 15°. And this is really, as every one can 



CORRECTIONS OF OUR PLANETARY TABLES. 105 

find from his astronomical tables, the planetary con- 
figuration of Sept. 7th, Anno 3447 B. C. In the same 
year and on the same day the flood ended, according 
to the true biblical chronology. This subject has been 
explained more in extenso in my books, entitled : 
" Unser Alphabet ein Abbild des Thierkreises," Leipz. 
1834, and " Unumstosslicher Beweis," cet. Leipz. 1842. 
" Alphabeta genuina," Lips. 1840. 

But it will be asked, what benefit or advantage can 
we derive from these ancient Asiatic, Egyptian, Greek 
and Koman astronomical traditions, although they 
have thus far been entirely unknown to us ? Let 
every one form his own judgment from what I shall 
now proceed to say. 

XVII. CORRECTIONS OF OUR PLANETARY 

TABLES. 

Our planetary tables are based upon the obser- 
vations of Ptolemy, 130 A. C. But as, at that time 
there were as yet no instruments for making astrono- 
mical measurements, these observations of Ptolemy 
must necessarily contain errors ; and these increase 
considerably in importance as we go back towards 
earlier dates. We are now acquainted with planetary 
places and constellations, which among the Romans 
are eight hundred, among the Greeks nine hundred, 
among the Egyptians three thousand years older than 
those of Ptolemy, by means of which our j)lanetary 
tables can be corrected. They furnish us in repeated 



106 THE HISTORY OF EGYPT BASED 

instances with coincident, though, not very important, 
deviations from the ancient observations, and we have 
thus been already enabled to show, that the mean 
motions of the planets, their anomalies, nodes and 
apogees differed in some degree from those assumed 
in the tables constructed on the basis of Ptolemy's 
observations.^ It is therefore to be hoped, that astro- 
nomers by profession will make themselves acquainted 
with the astronomy of the ancient Egyptians. A simi- 
lar practical profit, as we have seen above, may be 
realized from more than one hundred ancient eclipses 
of the sun and the moon formerly unknown.^ 

XVm. THE HISTORY OF EGYPT BASED UPON 
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 

The celebrated Lepsius, of Berlin, has in his great 
work on Egyptian history made the immortal disco- 
very, that Menes, the first king of the country, reigned 
before our dates of the flood and of the creation ; 
that " the deluge was confined to but a small portion 
of the globe ;" that " the sacred scriptures contain no 
history ;" that " the chronology of the Bible must ac- 
commodate itself to that of the Egyptians (N.B. as 
interpreted by Mr. Lepsius)," and so forth. This 
great savant, however, has exhibited in all his writ- 
ings to the present day, such a degree of ignorance, 

* Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte u. Zeitrechnung, p. 203. 

t See my treatise in the " Gottinger Gelehrte Anzeigen," No. 125, 
Aug-. 6, 1855, concerning the eclipses of the moon in Ptolemy's Alma- 
gest, and the eclipses of the sun in Greek and Roman authors. 



UPON ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 107 

heedlessness and levity, that there is no need of any 
refutation of his chimeras. Mr. Lepsius has not even 
learnt as yet, that all great kingdoms or empires have 
originated in smaller ones ; that consequently also, 
Manetho's dynasties must, from the very beginning, 
have been contemporaneous. Mr. Lepsius, knowing 
that the Vetus Chronicon, the oldest Egyptian history, 
gives to all the kings of the first fifteen dynasties 
since Menes no more than four hundred and forty- 
three years, makes the same dynasties successive, and 
gives them, in spite of genuine historical traditions, 
more than three thousand years. The whole history 
of Egypt is now determined, even to minute dates of 
years and days, by means of the many planetary con- 
figurations, mentioned above, as having occurred at 
the birth of the Pharaohs, at the commencement of 
the said four ages of the world, and at the beginning 
of the reign of Menes, the first Egyptian king ; by 
means of the transits of Mercury connected with the 
reign of certain monarchs, and lastly by means of the 
Phoenix-periods and Apis-periods, concerning which 
we have already spoken.^ On the basis of these 
mathematical truths, we, in the first place, find the 
commencement of the reign of Thuthmoses, the first 
king of the XYIII. Dynasty, during whose govern- 
ment the Hebrews emigrated, to have been in the year 
1904 B. C. On the 7th April of the same year there 

* Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte und Zeitrechnunsf, p. 103. 
Theologische Schriften der alten JEgy^ter, p. 104. Die Phoenix-Pe- 
riode ; Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenl. Gesell., 1849, p. 64. 



108 THE HISTORY OF EGYPT BASED 

was a renewal of the Phoenix-period of six hundred 
and fifty-one years, which is said to have taken place in 
the reign of this very Thuthmoses, or Amos I., and in 
the sixth year of the emperor Claudius. The arrival 
of the shepherd-kings (Hyksos), i. e. the Hebrews, as 
Josephus testifies, is ascertained with equal certainty. 
Even Manetho states, that these Hyksos became the 
builders of Jerusalem, subsequently to their expulsion 
from Egypt ; and, according to Africanus' copy of 
Manetho, they ruled contemporaneously with the 
Diospolite-kings of the XYIIth Dynasty, that is to 
say, in their land of Goshen. The Hebrews, therefore, 
arrived in Egypt, according to Manetho, in the 700th 
year of the canicular-period, (2782 B. C), consequent- 
ly in 2082 B. C. The precise time of Sesostris the 
Great, of the Xllth dynasty, is determined by the 
circumstance, that during his reign, and on the 6th of 
April, 2555 B. C. those Phoenix-periods of six hundred 
and fifty-one years commenced, which were subsequent- 
ly renewed in 1904 B. C. under Amos I., and in 50 A. C. 
under Claudius. The first year of Menes, namely the 
2781 B. C, is determined by sixteen astronomical in- 
scriptions, and by the very fact, that the Yetus Chro- 
nicon, an old historical work of the Egyptians, places 
Menes in the first year of the canicular period, that 
is also in 2781 B. C. Thus it is evident, that between 
Menes and the XYIIIth dynasty, several dynasties 
must have ruled simultaneously in upper and lower 
E^ypt^ whicij was early divided into twelve provinces, 
or Nomi. The ^ue^tion now is, which of these Ma- 
w 



UPON ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 109 

nethonian dynasties were contemporaneous ? Eratos- 
thenes has left us a translation of a list of the Pha- 
raohs from Menes to the end of the XYIIIth dynasty 
(1647 B. C), together with a statement of the years ot 
the respective reigns of these kings ; and from these 
is manifest, not onlv that Menes did not come from 
Babylonia into Egypt until the afore-mentioned year 
2781 B. C, but also that among the earlier dynasties 
enumerated by Manetho, the 1st, Xllth, XYIth, 
XVIIth, and XYIIIth only were successive, and that 
the intervening ones were contemjDoraneous with 
them. 

The same Egyptian history is established with still 
greater certainty by the Table of Abydos, now in the 
British Museum, of the year 1600 B. C, on which all 
the Egyptian kings of the 1st, Xllth, XYIth, XYIIth, 
and XYIIIth dynasties are enumerated in their regu- 
lar order, but all the intervening ones entirely 
omitted.^ Finally, we have, in addition, the Table 
of Karnak, of the year 1700 B. C, which divides the 
kings from Menes to the XYIIIth dynasty into two 
series, by arranging those that ruled successively on 
one side, and those who were their contemporaries on 
the other. — Thus then the strife, which has lasted 
so many years respecting Manetho's dynasties, and 
the true commencement of Egyptian history, has at 
last been set at rest. The history of Egypt did not 

* Berichte iiber die Verhandlungen der k. Sachs. Gesell. d. Wiss. 
1846, n. p. 71 ; with my treatise : Ueber das Laterculum des Eratos- 
thenes. 



110 THE HISTORY OF EGYPT BASED 

begin before the flood, not before the creation, and 
not before the year 2781 B C, but 666 years after the 
flood. It is true, that men may difi'er in opinion ; but 
astronomical and mathematical facts can never be 
controverted. 

Our next inquiry is, what may have been the date 
which the Egyptians assigned to the creation and the 
deluge ? The day of the creation was, according to 
their traditions, the day of the vernal equinox, as 
Philo and the Church Fathers testify. The said pla- 
netary constellation of the commencement of the first 
age of the world, also preserved by the Egyptians, 
refers us, as we have already shown, to the same day, 
the vernal equinox of the year 5871 B. C. Further- 
more, they placed the creation in the year in which 
Sirius, the dog-star, rose together with the sun on the 
day of the vernal equinox, as we are informed by 
Porphyry, by ^neas Gazasus and others. And this 
again could take place only in the year 5871 B. C. 
Lastly, we find it stated by the Alexandrian astro- 
nomer Theon, that in the year 27 B. C, the sixteenth 
of the reign of Augustus, on the 29th of August (the 
1st of the month Thoth) a new canicular period (the 
fifth since the creation, comprising 1461 years) had 
commenced ; by which 5871 B. C. is again confirmed 
as the year of the creation. In short, the Egyptians, 
like all the other nations of antiquity, have assigned 
5871 B. C. as the year of the creation. The history 
of the deluge they represented by the myth con- 
cerning the death of Osiris, which occurred on the 



UPON ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATL >NS. Ill 

same day, the iTtli of the month Athyr, on which the 
flood began, according to the Sacred Scriptures. 

But, how does this agree with Manetho and the 
Vetus Chronicon, which reckon 30,000 years from the 
beginning of time to Typhon, the murderer of his 
brother Osiris (i. e. to the flood ; for, Typhon signifies 
also the sea, as Osiris the mainland) ; and farther 
3984 years from thence to Menes, and besides 217 
additional years ? — We are informed by Censorinus, 
Horapollo and others, that the Egj^ptian word 0- abot^ 
hahof, (complexus) signified not only a year, but also 
a month, and also a season of two months. Conse- 
quently Manetho and the author of the Yetus Chro- 
nicon were authorized to calculate times according to 
such shorter years, without contradicting the other 
historical traditions of their nation. Now, we know 
moreover, that Manetho's history of Egypt was called 
the book of the Sothis, that is to say, the book of the 
great canicular period of 36,525 years. This number 
was obtained by the multiplication of the smaller 
Sothis of 1461 years with the Apis-period of twenty- 
five years and proximately coincided, as we have seen, 
with the great world-period of 36,000 years. Now 
since Manetho was very well acquainted with the very 
year of the creation 5871 B. C, which was recorded 
in the planetary constellations concerning the com- 
mencements of the three first ages of the world, he 
must have taken shorter years as the basis of those 
periods, of 30,000 and 3984 years, in order to include 
in his great Sothis of 36,525 years the entire history 



112 THE HISTORY OF EGYPT, &C. 

of Egypt down to his time. In short, for the purpose 
of establishing a history of 36,525 years, called So- 
this, Manetho turned solar years into months by mul- 
tiplication, as we find it also among the ancient Chal- 
deans, Hindoos, Chinese, and others. He therefore 
regarded those 30,000 years of his from the creation 
to the flood as so many lunar months (abot), and con- 
sequently reckoned only 2424 solar years for the 
period in question. Moreover the 3984 years (Horae) 
from the deluge to Menes, of which each expressed 
a season of two months, give but 664 solar years ; and 
Manetho's third period of 217 years rather comprises 
the days from Menes' departure from Babjdonia to his 
arrival in Egypt. 

Hence there is nothing at all irreconcilable between 
Manetho's Sothis and the other traditions of his 
people All knew that, according to the above-men- 
tioned planetary configurations, the creation had taken 
place on the 10th of May, 5871 B. C, and the arrival 
of Menes on the 16th of July, 2781 B. C. Between 
the two epochs 3089 years intervene, and precisely 
this number we have in Manetho's periods of 30,000 
months and 3984 Horae, with 217 days. In fine, as 
Manetho reckons from the creation down to Typhon 
(the deluge) 2424 solar years, the Egyptians placed 
the flood 2424 years subsequent to 5871 B. C, and 
therefore in the year 3447 B. C, to which year, as has 
already been said, the planetary configuration in the 
alphabet refers. 



THE PYRAMID OF CHEOPS NEAR CAIRO. 113 

XIX. THE PYRAMID OF CHEOPS NEAR CAIRO. 

To the most remarkable among the antiquities in 
Dr. Abbott's Museum belongs a heavy, gold, signet- 
ring (No. 1050), bearing upon it the name of king 
Cheops ^— ^=^^4 ^ (KHPH). This was the king 
who, according to Herodotus built the great pyramid 
at Gizeh ; and his name has actually been found in 
a chamber of this pyramid. But at what precise time 
may this wonder of the world have been 'erected ? — 
Mr. Lepsius places the pyramid before the flood, and 
even before the creation ; this, coming from such an 
illustrious philosopher, does not surprise us at all. 
Yet it will be well to hear what Herodotus, whom 
Mr. Lepsius does not name, has to say on the subject. 
Herodotus, Book II. c. 99, mentions all the particular- 
ly remarkable kings from Menes (2781 B. C.) down to 
his own time. Among those who succeeded Menes, 
the more remarkable, according to Herodotus, were 
Moeris, the ninth king of the XYIIIth dynasty, 1777 
B. C; after him his son Sesostris (Osimandya) 1731 
B. C; then Pheron (Ramses the Great) 1694 B. C, then 
Proteus, at the time of the Trojan war; then Rhamp- 
sin^ ; then our Cheops ; then Chephren ; next Mykeri- 
nos ; next Asychis, and so on. Thus, then, the erection 
of the great pyramid occurred long subsequent to the 
end of the XVIIIth dynasty, the period of which is 
determined by reliable astronomical observations; 
nay, its date is later even than that of the Trojan war, 
which according to the unanimous testimony of anti- 



114 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

quity, took place about 1200 years B. C. During this 
time Egypt was governed by the kings of the XXth 
dynasty, whose names the transcribers of Manetho 
have unfortunately not jDreserved. In short, the pyra- 
mid of Cheops was not built before the creation and 
the flood, but as late as the period of the XXth dy- 
nasty, later than the fall of Troy, and in the time of 
David. 



XX. THE TRUE CHROXOLOGY OF THE OLD 
TESTAMENT COXFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL 
FACTS. 

The currently received chronology of the Old Tes- 
tament is based upon the " Doctrina Temporum" of 
Petavius (Paris, 1627). But this unfortunate chrono- 
logist adopted as the basis of his scheme, not the cor- 
rect statements of the Greek text of the Bible, but 
the changed numbers of the Hebrew, which shorten 
the period from the Creation to Abraham by fifteen 
hundred years. Petavius might, and ought to have 
known, as well as Perizonius (L'antiquite des Temps, 
Paris, 1687), that after the destruction of Jerusalem 
by Titus, a certain Rabbi Akiba shortened the, ori- 
ginal chronological statements in the Hebrew text by 
fifteen hundred years, for the purpose of making 
Christ appear to have been a false Messiah, who had 
come fifteen hundred years before the time predicted 
by Habakkuk and others. Petavius ought to have , 
known, that Christ, the Apostles, the first Christian 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 115 

Churches; nay, even the learned Jew Josephus, 
seventy years A. C, never knew of any other chrono- 
logy than that of the LXX. ; even the Arabians 
and the oldest Fathers of the Church bear witness to 
that intentional corruption ; and the Jews in Ethi- 
opia have retained, down to the present day, a bib- 
lical history longer by fifteen hundred years, than that 
of the present Hebrew text. However, even the Greek 
version of the Old Testament, made two hundred and 
fifty years before Christ, has, like all other ancient 
manuscripts, suffered from the carelessness of trans- 
cribers, so that we find mistakes in two passages. 
In the first place, according to the book of Judges, 
which states the years during which nearly all the 
Judges governed Israel, according to Josephus and ac- 
cording to the genealogies of the Old Testament, as 
evenPrichard (Egyptian Mythology, London, 1816) al- 
ready showed, it was eight hundred and eighty years 
from the Exody of the Hebrews out of Egypt down 
to the building of Solomon's temple. The Greek text 
(I. Kings 6, 1) makes it only four hundred and forty 
years, and the Hebrew four hundred and eighty, but 
the Hebrew of the Oriental Jews five hundred and 
ninety- two. This then would make the date of Is- 
rael's exody four hundred years earlier than Petavius 
would have us believe ; consequently in the year 1867 
B. C. This correction of the present biblical reckon- 
ing is established beyond all possibility of doubt by a 
great number of mathematical and historical facts. 
Clemens Alexandrinus states that the Israelites emi- 



116 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

grated five hundred and forty-five years before the be- 
ginning of the new Canicular Period, which began 
1322 B. C; consequently in the year above mentioned, 
1867 B. C. — Manetho informs us, that the shepherd- 
kings (Hyksos), who, according to him and Josephus, 
were the Israelites, had come to Egypt seven hundred 
years after the beginning of the first Canicular Pe- 
riod, beginning 2782 B. C, therefore in the year 2082 
B. C. Now, as the Israelites departed again two hun- 
dred and fifteen years later, it is again obvious, that 
the year 1867 B. C. was indeed the year of their de- 
parture. This occurred, as is testified, by ecclesiastical 
antiquity, under Amos, the first king of the eighteenth 
Dynasty ; but this king reigned, as is shown by the 
planetary constellations of his successors, and the 
transit of Mercury, which occurred 1904 B. C. during 
his reign, from the year 1904 to the year 1867 B.C., when 
he perished in the Red Sea. — Joseph was, according to 
ecclesiastical traditions, sold into Egypt during the 
reign of Apo]3his (2213 B. C.) ; twenty-three years later 
the Israelites came to Goshen ; and this again proves 
that their Exody occurred 1867 B. C. — Josephus and 
the ancient Commentaries on Numbers 24, 17. 
inform us, that three years before the birth of 
Moses a remarkable Conjunction of Saturn and Ju- 
piter occurred in the sign of Pisces, which takes place, 
according to Kepler, only once in eight hundred years. 
But the only time when this can have occurred, 
is 1951 B. C, whence Moses was born 1948 B. C. But 
as Moses was, at the time of the Exody, eighty years 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 117 

old, it is again obvious, that this Exody must have 
occurred 1867 B. C. — Furthermore, the Scriptures 
reckon from the flood, which ended on the seventh day 
of September, 3447 B. C, down to the Exody, fifteen 
hundred and eighty years. Now it has been ascer- 
tained that, according to the planetary configuration 
contained in the Alphabet, the deluge came to an end 
on the seventh of September, 3447 B. C, hence, 
again^the Israelites must have made their Exody, 1867 
B. C. In short, from the departure of the Israelites out 
of Egypt down to the building of Solomon's temple, 
a period elapsed, not of four hundred and forty, or of 
four hundred and eighty, or -B.Ye hundred and ninety- 
two, but of eight hundred and eighty years. The 
same is proved by the succession of the Judges among 
the Hebrews in the Book of the Judges, and by the 
genealogies in the Chronicles. 

The second mistake made by transcribers of the 
Greek text is found in Genesis 5, 25. 26. This appears 
already from the difierent readings, and the contra- 
dictions that have grown out of them. If, at the birth 
of Lamech, Methuselah had been only one hundred 
and sixty-seyen years old, as the manuscript copies 
say, he would have survived the deluge. But if we 
read three hundred and forty-nine years, Methuselah's 
death occurred one hundred and sixty-eight years be- 
fore the flood. This being correct, a period, not of 
2242, or 2262, but of 2424 years intervened between 
the Creation and the flood. In this way the history 
of the Old Testament is again reconciled with itself, 



118 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

with the historical traditions current among all the 
other ancient nations, and, what is in itself decisive, 
with the ages of the world and the astronomical tra- 
ditions of all the nations of antiquity. For, from the 
planetary constellation at the beginning of the -first 
age of the world, on the tenth of May, 5871 B. C. down 
to the constellation at the end of the deluge on the 
seventh of September, 3447 B. C, we again have 2424 
years. It has been ascertained that the Egyptians 
also reckoned, from the beginning of time to the 
death of Osiris by,Typhon, i. e. to the deluge, thirty 
thousand lunar-months, hence 2424 years. All ancient 
nations, and even Habakkuk reckoned six thousand 
years from the Creation to Tiberius and Christ. So 
definite a history of the Old Testament, accurately 
fixing not only years, but days, would never have come 
to light, had not the hand of Providence preserved 
for us so many antiquities of Egypt, together with so 
many astronomical observations from the time of the 
Eoman emperors back to the -day of Creation. The 
beginning of the first age of the world, according to 
the Julian year, that tenth of May, 5871 B. C, was 
really, as the traditions of the ancient nations reported, 
the day of the vernal-equinox, and at the same time 
the first day after the first Sabbath of the world. 
More extensive explanations are given in my Chrono- 
logia Sacra; Leipzig, 1846. 

Although these historical and astronomical traditions 
prove, that the true chronology from the Creation 
down to Abraham still exists, not in the Hebrew, but 



CONFIRxMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 119 

in the Greek text of the Pentateuch, and that the 
Apostate Akiba, for the purpose of rejecting Christ 
and expecting another, did actually fifteen hun- 
dred years later, shorten the lives of fourteen Pa- 
triarchs ; yet many Christians, who, from their youth, 
have believed in the infallibility of the Hebrew chro- 
nology, will hesitate to change their conviction im- 
mediately. They will perhaps make the following 
philosophical objections. 

1. The Lord could not permit any falsification of 
Tiis holy and revealed Word. — This is, however, a mere 
hypothesis, which confutes itself. For the ancient 
manuscripts of the Old and New Testament contain, 
as is well known, a great many corruptions: there 
are large collections of different readings in the He- 
brew and in the Greek Bible. Walton already re- 
marked, that the manuscripts of the Hebrew Testament 
differ very much the one from the other, particularly 
in figures and proper names. Kennicott, by compar- 
ing more than seventy Hebrew manuscripts, made the 
same discovery; and Teller, the translator of Kenni- 
cott's work, says:* "if we were to assume entire ab- 
sence of errors in the copies of this ancient book, we 
would have to take for granted a continuous miracle, 
performed in the case of every transcriber; and this 
infallibility would have lasted till the invention of 
typography." Further, as God has permitted all 
crimes of men since Adam, so he has j^ermitted also 

* Benj. Kennicott, Ratio textus hebraici V. T. interprete Ab. Teller. 
Lips. 1756. 



120 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

both designed and unintentional alterations of his Holy 
Word, in respect to chronology and other subjects. 
The Samaritan Pentateuch, for instance, written ori- 
ginally with the same letters as the Hebrew, was, af- 
ter Solomon's death, regarded as the Word of God ; 
and yet we find in it an entirely different chronology 
from that in the present Hebrew text. Likewise the 
Greek translation of the Pentateuch, called the Sep- 
tuagint, also contains the Word of God; and yet from 
Adam to Abraham it gives fifteen hundred years 
more than the Hebrew Testament. Now, suppose the 
chronology' in the LXX. to be a falsified one; had 
God permitted the falsification of his Holy Word, or 
not? Did he not permit such a falsified Bible to get 
in the hands of many millions of Jews and Chris- 
tians, and to pass among them during two thousand 
years, even down to the present day, for the true Word 
of God ? Moreover, the Hebrew Bibles of the Jews 
in the Orient contain, as is well known, a chronology 
different from that in our printed Hebrew Bible. 
Even Luther and others already showed in many 
places, e. g. Is. 9, 6., that the Rabbis did, 800 
A. C. falsify the Hebrew text, for the purpose of dis- 
crediting or obliterating certain prophecies in respect 
to Christ. How then may any one assert, or attempt 
to demonstrate, that God was obliged to preserve the 
Hebrew text of the Old Testament uncorrupted, even 
in the smallest particulars? A groundless supposi- 
tion proves nothing, but facts decide. Consequently 
we may assume a corrupted chronology in the Hebrew 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 121 

text with the same right as others have assumed it in 
the LXX. Which has been corrupted, is to be decid- 
ed by the Word of God itself, or by other true histo- 
rical and astronomical facts. 

2. The Seventy Interjpreters exjpanded the original 
chronology of the Old Testament hy 1500 years for 
the purj^ose of harmonizing hoth histories. — This is, 
however, another groundless supposition, and an ob- 
vious mistake. For the Egpytians, according to the 
Vetus Chronicon, Manetho, Herodotus, Diodorus Sicu- 
lus and others, counted from the Creation to the De- 
luge 30,000 years, thence down to Menes, in the time 
of Phaleg, 3984 years, and 217 years from Menes to the 
Exody of the Israelites, in the time of Amos, more than 
4000 years ; whilst the LXX., according to the usual 
editions, reckon only 2242 years from the Creation to 
the Deluge, thence till Menes only QQQ years, from 
Menes till the Exody only 1580 years. Moreover, the 
Egyptian history gives for the time from the Exody 
down to Solomon 880 years, whilst the LXX., accord- 
ing to the best manuscripts (1 Kings 6, 1.), mark only 
440 years. Had then the seventy Interpreters enter- 
tained the purpose to harmonize the Hebrew chrono- 
logy and history with the Egyptian, they would have 
proposed quite different historical periods, and cer- 
tainly they never would have counted 440 years in- 
stead of 880 for the time that elapsed between the 
Exody and Solomon. That philosophers were capable 
of devising such an argument against the chronology 
in the LXX., is a matter of surprise. No ancient au- 
6 



122 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

tbor has ever made such an objection against the 
LXX. ; on the contrary, learned old Fathers of the 
Church and Arabian authors relate, that a certain 
apostate Akiba, about 100 A. C, shortened the origi- 
nal chronology in the Hebrew text by 1600 years in 
order to prove that Christ, born long before the time 
fixed by the Prophets, was a Pseudo-Messiah, and that 
the Jews might wait 1500 years longer for the true 
Christ. This is affirmed by the learned Abulfeda,*' 
who says: " The Jews proceeded in the same manner 
in reference to the lives of Adam's descendants. The 
reason of these alterations, it is said, was, to make it 
appear, that Christ entered the world during the fifth 
millennium or year-thousand, whilst the Pentateuch 
and other sacred books had predicted that the birth 
of the true Messiah would occur in the sixth year- 
thousand." Not less clear is the testimony of Abul- 
faragrf (the shortening of the chronology in the He- 
brew Bible) " is imputed to Jewish Rabbis. For, it 
being predicted in the Law and the Prophets, that 
the Messiah would be sent in the last times, they have, 
in order to reject Christ, shortened the lives of the 
Patriarchs down to Abraham one hundred years each. — 
Thus it happened, that, according to their reckoning, 
Christ was born during the fifth year-thousand. Now 
they say, we are still in the midst of the time ; the 
predicted time of the Messiah has not yet come." 

* Historia cet., ed. Fleischer. Lips. 1831, p. 7. 

t Historia Dynastiarum ; ed. Pokok. P. 72, Dyn. 7. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 123 

Add to these the decisive testimonies of the Evange- 
lists, the Apostles and the first Christian Churches, 
the first Fathers of the Church, as also Josephus and 
Philo, who ratify and confirm the chronology of the 
LXX. St. Augustine says :^ " (The Christian communi- 
ties) claim that it is incredible, that the seventy In- 
terpreters should have been capable of mistake, or 
that having no reason for so doing, they should have 
lied." In short, it is a false assertion, that the seventy 
Interpreters extended the chronology of the Bible for 
the purpose of harmonizing the Hebrew and Egyp- 
tian histories. No ancient author says any such thing; 
on the contrary all Christian antiquity, orthodox Jews 
and even learned Mahomedans tell us, that a short 
time after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus a 
certain Akiba, out of hostility to Christianity, short- 
ened the lives of fourteen patriarchs. 

3. Supposing Akiha or Aquila had falsified some 
Hebrew PentateucKs^ lie would never have succeeded in 
interpolating all the other manuscripts in the hands of 
the Jews. — This is, altogether, a ridiculous objection. 
For, is it actually decided, that all copies of the He- 
brew Pentateuch in the world are in like manner fal- 
sified ? For my part, I am fully convinced, that there 
still exist, in Asia and Africa, Hebrew manuscripts 

* Augustin. Civ. D. XV. 11. 13 : Sed cum hoc dixero, continue re- 
fertur, illud Judaeorum esse mendacium. Inquiunt (Christiani), non 
esse credibile, Septuaginta interpretes errare potuisse, aut, ubi nihil 
eorum intererat, voluisse mentiri. — Judaei vero, dum nobis invident, 
quod Lex et Prophetae ad nos interpretando transierint, mutasse qusedam 
in codicibus suis, ut nostris minueretur auctoritas. 



124 THE TRUE CHRONOIiOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

of the Old Testament, harmonizing with the LXX. 
and containing the same chronology which Josephus 
and the first Christian Chn relies found in their He- 
brew Testaments. Furthermore, after the destruction 
of Jerusalem by Titus, there were not yet so many 
Hebrew manuscripts in existence ; and thus it was 
easy for Aquila, to accomplish his object. For, sub- 
sequent to the time of Alexander the Great, the Greek 
language was so universal in the East and West, that 
the greater part of the Jews forgot the Hebrew and 
used the Septuagint. Even the Jews in Palestine, as 
innumerable Greek inscriptions there found, and the 
New Testament show, spoke Greek in preference to 
the Hebrew. It is probable, that in the time of Herod 
many a scribe still kept a copy of the Hebrew Bible ; 
but eighty years A. C, in the time of Akiba, after the 
temple-, the metropolis and all the cities of Palestine 
had been destroyed by fire, and two millions of Jews 
killed or sold as slaves ; in that time, certainly, He- 
brew manuscripts must have become scarce in the 
w^orld. Thus, then it was easy to alter the small number 
of manuscripts remaining in Palestine, according to Aki- 
ba's readings. Besides, in that time, as our ancient 
manuscripts sufficiently show, every book was full of 
mistakes and obliterations; and it was a custom 
among the Ancients, to compare diff'erent copies of a 
book, the one with the other, as often as possible, and 
to mark different readings in the margin or in 
the text itself. Therefore, whoever saw a He- 
brew Pentateuch altered according to Akiba, would 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 125 

suppose, that he found here better and original read- 
ings, and mark them, as such, in his own copy. This 
alteration of the genuine Biblical chronology was 
particularly promoted by the supposition, that Aki- 
ba's or Aquila's new Greek translation of the Penta- 
teuch was based upon very old and correct manu- 
scripts. But apart, even, from this point, it is clear, 
why such a shortened Biblical chronology appeared 
very acceptable to all the Jews. For, if they re- 
tained the old chronology in the Hebrew text, they 
were obliged to believe in Christ, because he was born 
during the sixth year-thousand, in the time predicted 
by the Prophets ; hence they would have been obliged 
to submit to baptism. If, on the contrary, they 
adopted Akiba's chronology, then they had a show of 
right in waiting for another Messiah, who was to be 
their mighty temporal sovereign, and in crucifying the 
Lord a second time. Finally, the Academies of the 
Pharisees which existed, in the time of Akiba, at Jam- 
nia and Tiberias, and which boasted of possessing 
" the purest doctrine," may have contributed to the 
promulgation of Akiba's chronology. In short, after 
the destruction of Jerusalem it was possible to intro- 
duce a corrupted Biblical chronology. Whoever re- 
gards this as impossible, does not remember the Pha- 
risees, as they appear in the New Testament, nor 
similar examples found elsewhere. The chronology 
in the Samaritan Pentateuch is, as everybody knows, 
a corrupted one ; and yet we nevertheless find it in 
all Samaritan Peutateuchs now in existence. Whoever 



126 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE »LD TESTAMENT 

takes the LXX. to be a falsified translation, must ad- 
mit that it was possible to establish and invest with 
authority a fraud before the eyes of Josephus, Philo, 
the Fathers of the Church, and many millions of Jews 
and Christians after the time of Ptolemy and of 
Christ. In the same way then it was possible also for 
Akiba's chronology gradually to acquire authority, as 
authentic, in the Synagogues and Western Christian 
Churches. Even the sacred writings of the Hindoos, 
furnish a similar example. They ascribed to their 
Yedas the highest antiquity when the English first 
became acquainted with them ; but at the beginning 
of this century some one found in those Vedas a por- 
tion of the history of Rome, by which the Brahmins 
were convicted of fraud and deception. Some years 
after, that same piece of Roman history was not to be 
found in any co]3y of the same sacred book. At last 
one of the Brahmins confessed and said, that the 
Brahmins had immediately ordered, throughout all 
India, the erasure of that piece of Roman history, by 
which they were convicted as liars. — ^There is extant, 
also, a modern edition of the Hebrew Bible with a 
German-Rabbinical interpretation, in which Daniel's 
seventy weeks are wanting. The assertion then, that 
in the time of Akiba a Hebrew Bible with a cor- 
rupted chronology would never have acquired autho- 
rity, cannot be sustained. 

4. All the arguments in favor of the authenticity 
of the chronology given in the Septuagint were 
refuted already in the theological writings of the 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 127 

last century. — This is, however, another incorrect 
assertion. It is true that many theologians endea- 
vored one hundred or one hundred and fifty years 
ago, to demonstrate in opposition to Perizonius, 
Isaac Yoss, Baronius, Gary, Jackson, Des Vignoles 
and others,^ that the true chronology had been 
exclusively preserved in the Hebrew Bible ; but 
how was this attempted? They began by taking 
.for granted, what ought first of all to have been 
demonstrated from the Word of God and by mathe- 
matical certainties, to wit, that it was impossible 
to change a single jot in the Hebrew text of the 
Old Testament; they paid no regard to either the 
testimonies of Christ, the Apostles and Evangelists, 
or the testimony of the Fathers of the Church and 
of the oldest Christian Churches ; they explained 
the greatest incongruities of history, arising from 
the chronology in the Hebrew Pentateuch, by 
means of alleged miracles ; they would neither 
hear nor see ; they pretended that the Cainan in 
the New Testament (Luke 8, 36), was another per- 
son than the Cainan of the Old Testament (Gen. 
5, 9.; 1. Chron. 1, 2), in order to prove, that the 
Evangelists did not follow the chronology of the 
LXX., but that of the Hebrew, and that consequent- 
ly the chronology of the Septuagint was not sanc- 
tioned or confirmed by the New Testament. When 
they calculated in this manner, however, they did 
not recollect the fact, that Christ, the Apostles and 

* S. Wachler, Geschichte der Literatur. Lips. 1833, IV. 77. 



128 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Evangelists nowhere reject, but repeatedly adduce 
the LXX., and thus declare it to be the true Word 
of God, in spite of all who seek to force St. Luke 
into their service. Besides, these apologies for the 
Biblical chronology in the Hebrew text were not 
refuted as thoroughly and effectually as they might 
have been, and now can be ; but the work was 
^3^e as well as the state of science at that time 
permitted. Now things are different from what 
they were a hundred years ago. For, since that 
time entirely new proofs, both historical and astro- 
nomical, confirming the chronology of the Septua- 
gint, have come to light ; and these, being as re- 
liable as the multiplication-table, are irrefutable. 
It is thus an erroneous assertion, that the chrono- 
logy in our present Hebrew Bible is placed beyond 
all question. 

5. Moreover^ cautious and scrupulous men will, per- 
haps, say : suppose we grant that the true chronology 
is preserved, not in the Hebrew, hut in the Greeh Pen- 
tateuch, then the poor Christian people will lose all 
confidence in the Bible, and the whole Christian 
Church will be shaken to its foundation. We ought 
then, at least, to cast aside our Hebrew Bibles, together 
with Luther'' s translation and the authorized English 
version, and regard the Septuagint as alone contain- 
ing the Word of God, But, God be praised, nothing 
of the kind is necessary. For the Word of God, in 
all that is essential to our salvation, is contained in 
the Hebrew Bible, in Luther's translation, and in the 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 129 

aiitliorized En-glish yersion, as well as in the Septua- 
gint. The question, whether Adam was created 2000 
years earlier or later, does not at all belong to those 
articles of faith, which are vitally important to 
human salvation. From the time of the apostles 
down to the present day, two-thirds, at least, of the 
Christian Church, particularly in the East, have be- 
lieved and taught, that the true Biblical chronol(^y 
is preserved, not in the Hebrew but in the Greek text; 
and yet, the Christian Church has not crumbled into 
dust, but has increased and prospered since the days 
of the Apostles, in spite of those chronological varia- 
tions. Every body knows, that God has permitted 
a vast number of alterations, both unintentional and 
designed, in all copies of the Old and New Testa- 
ments ; that down to the present day, the critics re- 
main in doubt as respects the correct and original 
reading of many passages, not, however, of essential 
importance, in both the Old and New Testaments. 
Wherefore, then, should a Christian, whose one great 
concern it is to be a child of God, allow himself to 
be perplexed, and to become an infidel, upon hearing 
that the Hebrew Testament, or rather the manuscripts 
that are still accessible to us, contain a few errors 
more than they were known and proved, centuries 
ago, by Luther and others, to contain ? There is, 
moreover, no reason whatever for seeking, hence- 
forward, the Word of God rather in the Septuaginf,* 
than in the Hebrew Bible, or in Luther's or the 
English version. — 
6* 



180 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

For, in general, both texts agree entirely, and 
word for word: the differences are not numerous, 
and affect only points of minor importance, to which 
must be reckoned those shortened lives of fourteen 
patriarchs. Besides, it is possible that the Hebrew 
manuscripts used by the seventy translators, con- 
tained some errors which are now rectified in our 
printed Hebrew Bibles, in accordance with other 
and" better manuscripts. Finally, as the Rabbis 
have, since the eighth century, numbered the let- 
ters of every biblical section, recording their num- 
ber at the end of each, the Hebrew text has, of 
course, been copied with greater accuracy than its 
Greek translation. From all this we arrive at the 
conclusion, that in all passages in which the Greek 
text does not agree with the Hebrew, the latter 
must be preferred. Only those passages of the 
Septuagint are to be excepted, which have been 
quoted in the New Testament, and to have thus 
been sanctioned by Christ, the Apostles and Evan- 
gelists. 

It will now be evident that the question, whether 
the true Biblical chronology has been preserved in 
the Hebrew text or in th« Septuagint, which ques- 
tion has been debated in the Christian Church ever 
since the destruction of Jerusalem, has not yet, by 
any means, ceased to be a subject of disagreement 
and dispute. The East continues, to the present 
day, to prefer the Septuagint, the West, our He- 
brew text. But why should it be impossible to 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 131 



arrive at a satisfactory, because correct, conclusion 
in the premises ? Are we to believe that Pro- 
vidence has failed to provide for our deliverance 
from such doubts and uncertainties? The follow- 
ing fact will I trust, serve, by the blessing of God, 
to convince every Christian of the truth of our po- 
sition, that the true chronology from the creation 
till the birth of Christ is to be found in the Sep- 
tuagint. 

1. Christy the Evangelists and Apostles repeatedly 
quote passages of the Septuagint ^ a/nd^ to specify 
a particular instam^ce, St. ZuJce maTces mention of the 
patriarch Cainan^ whose name is now wanting in 
the Hebrew text^ but to whom the Septuagint ascribes 
135 years prior to the birth of his son. 

It is well known that, since the destruction of 
Jerusalem, the Jews condemn and reject the Sep- 
tuagint, as a corruption or falsification of the Word 
of God ; and the Talmud designates the origin of 
the Septuagint as a disastrous day.*= Suppose that 
the Septuagint or its chronology, in fixing the time 
of the Messiah's advent 1500 years earlier, were 
really chargeable with falsification : suppose, more- 
over, that the Hebrew text had not agreed with 
the Greek, ever since the day of Ptolemy, the con- 
trary of which is proved even by Josephus and 
Philo, would Christ, and the Apostles and Evan- 
gelists have, in the sight of all men, quoted, as the 

* Talmud, Tractat. Sophar 1 



182 THE TRUE CHROiXOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

Word of God, a record tlius falsified ? Would they 
have appealed to a book justly condemned ?=^ 
Assuredly not. Thus the chronology of the Septua- 
gint is confirmed by the New Testament, and no 
Christian will demand any other proofs. Whosoever 
regards the New Testament as inspired, and this is, 
of course, the position maintained by the whole 
Christian Church, is thus bound to acknowledge 
that the Septuagint contains the true chronology. 
Whoever, on the contrary, rejects the testimony of 
Christ, and the Apostles and Evangelists, accepting 
the chronology in the Hebrew text as the true one, 
denies, in so doing, the inspiration of the New 
Testament, and is not, therefore, really a Christian, 
however much he may boast of his orthodoxy. 

2. The projphets of the Old Testament foretold 
repeatedly, that Christ would come into the world 
six thousand years after the creation, and according 
to Daniel (9, 24.), fA)e hundred and thirty four 
years after the Babylonian cajptivity. But the He- 
brew text reckons from Adam to Christ only 4000 
years, while, according to the Septuagint, Christ 
was born nearly 6000 years after the creation. Who- 
ever, then, accepts the Old Testament as an in- 
spired book, must acknowledge that the Septuagint 
contains the true biblical chronology. Those 6000 
years from Adam to Christ we find first in Habak- 
kuk 3, 2. For " the midst of the years" signified, 

■•= John 5, 89. Habak. 4, 2. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 183 

as at that time almost every one among the ancient 
nations knew, the half or middle of the world- 
period of 12,000 years, which was based upon the 
slow motion of the Zodiac,* This same era we find 
among the Chalda3ans, the Persians, in Hamza of 
Ispahan, in the Zendavesta, among the Egyptians, 
Greeks, Komans, Tuscans, and others. Habakkuk 
does not say, that after Christ's birth the world 
would exist six thousand years longer, for nobody 
knows the end of the world, "except the Father;" 
he says only, that Christ would be born in the 
midst of the era of 12,000 years, found by the an- 
cient sages and known everywhere. The same pe- 
riod was foretold as that of the Messiah's advent, 
by Isaiah (2,2.), and other prophets, by the words: 
"in the last days [time]." That is, as the six days 
of creation were followed by the Sabbath, so would 
the Christian Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Christian 
dispensation, be preceded by six days, each consist- 
ing of a thousand years ; a statement perfectly con- 
sistent with prophetic usage. For we find such 
days of a thousand years mentioned in the Psalms : 
such also were the six ages of the world among 
the ancient nations : the successive ages of gold, 
silver, brass, iroD, clay or the heroic, and the 
human. To these six ages of the world belongs 
also the gigantic image of time described in the 
second chapter of the book of Daniel, with its head 
of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs 

* Chronologia Sacra, p. 104 sqq., p. Icrz. 



134 THE TRUE CliROxXOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

of brass, legs of iron, and feet part of iron and 
part of clay ; although, in this place, the six ages 
denote monarchies, of which that of Nebuchad- 
nezzar was the first. In these and similar passages 
of the Old Testament, among which we may in- 
stance Exod. 31, 13 ; Gen. 2, 2, all ancient interpre- 
ters found the prophecy, that Christ would be born 
at the expiration of the sixth year- thousand, as is 
testified, in the first place, by learned Mahome- 
tans. For Abulfeda says, in the passage cited 
above : " The Pentateuch and other Hebrew hooks 
had promised, that the Messiah should come during 
the sixth millenium (year-thousand) after the crea- 
tion." Abulphanag says: "As had been foretold in 
the Law and the Prophets^ the IMessiah was to be 
sent in the last timey at the end of the sixth year- 
thousand after the creation." — -Again, Josephus re- 
ports, that during the Jewish war many pseudo- 
Messiahs arose, and were regarded as true Saviors ; 
and why was this ? Because the Jews knew, that, 
according to the predictions of the prophets, the 
advent of the Messiah was to occur six thousand 
years after the creation, and that, moreover, the 
sixth millenium or year-thousand was to end seven- 
ty years subsequent to the commencement of our 
era. Suetonius also, and Tacitus relate, that the 
entire East was, at that time, looking for the pro- 
mised Messiah."^ The Jews must, consequently have 

* Sueton Vespas. c. 4. Tacit, Hist. V 13. "Percrebuerat Oriente 
toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in futis, ut eo tempore Judsea pro- 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 135 

been aware, that the time for the advent of the 
Messiah had been fixed by the prophets in the 
sixth year-thousand. Had the Hebrews, at that 
time already, found the present shortened chrono- 
logy in their Hebrew Bible, they would surely not 
have expected the Messiah at that time, but fifteen 
hundred years later, as did the Jews in Spain, in 
the East, and the learned Abarbanel himself, four- 
teen hundred aud sixty years after Christ. 

Can any one point to a single passage of the 
Old Testament according to which we ought to re- 
fer the words, " the midst of the years," " the last 
days [time]," "the sixth day of the world," to the 
year four thousand after the creation ? So far from 
doing any thing of the kind, the Jews in Spain, 
after having become powerful in that country, 
openly assailed the Christian Church, A.D. 680, with 
the reproach that Christ, having been born fifteen 
hundred years too early, was therefore a false Mes- 
siah ; whilst they maintained that the true Messiah 
would come fifteen hundred years later, i. e. in the 
sixth year-thousand after the creation.^^ It was con- 
sequently known to every Jew, at that time, that, ac- 
cording to the prophets, Christ should come " in the 

fecti rerum potirentur. — Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum 
libris contineri, fore ut valesceret Oriens et e Judaea profecti rerum po- 
tirentur." 

* In confutation of these columnies Julian, the Bishop of Toledo, 
wrote, in 586, a large work in three volumes, entitled : " De demon 
stratione sextse setatis," first published Hagense, 1532 ; in this he de- 
monstrated that Christ was really born 6000 years after the creation. 



136 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

midst of tlie years," i. e. six thousand years after the 
creation. About the year 1460 A. C, Abarbanel 
wrote his celebrated commentary on Daniel, in which 
he bade his brethren in the faith remember, that the 
true Messiah, foretold by the prophets, would be born 
in a very short time. It was stated, in 1810, by the 
missionary Fjeldstedt, an eye-witness, that all the Jews 
in the East were then anxiously expecting the advent 
of the Messiah ; and why ? Because, according to 
the peculiar chronology of the oriental Jews, the 
sixth millenium or year-thousand after the creation 
expired in 1810. — We derive still further confirmation 
of the chronology of the Septuagint from the primi- 
tive Christian Churches belonging to the apostolic 
age. For during the time of the apostles and the age 
immediately succeeding, the Christians expected the 
beginning of the great Sabbath, the seventh year- 
thousand after the creation, which began in the year 
130 A. C. and expired in 1130. Would those primi- 
tive Christian Churches have openly spoken of the 
beginning of the seventh year-thousand, as then ex- 
pected, if they had not learned from the Apostles and 
the Fathers of the Church, or directly from the Bible 
itself, that the six thousand years subsequent to the 
creation would then have elapsed ? — The beginning of 
this seventh millenium or year-thousand was known 
even to the Pagans. For the old poet Linus had, at 
a much earlier period, sung : " When the seventh day 
[i. e. year- thou sand] shall come, the Almighty Father 
will accomplish all things ; and even this day belongs 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 137 

to the pious."^ Hence the Romans, as vre learn 
froaa Virgil (Bucol. I. 498.) expected, in the time of 
Augustus, " the coming child, with which the iron 
(i. e. the sixth) age should end." In short, all the 
interpreters of the divine Word as recorded in the Old 
Testament, Christians, Jews, Mahometans and Pagans, 
knew thai, according to the prophets, Christ's advent 
would take place at the end of the sixth year-thou- 
sand. Whoever, then, regards the present chronology 
of the Hebrew Testament as infallibly correct, must, 
of necessity, also look upon the prophets as fallible 
men, and upon the Old Testament, as in the main, 
uninspired. But he that entertains such views is 
surely, in his heart, neither Christian, nor Jew, nor 
Mahometan. 

8. T/ie earliest and most learned Fathers of the 
Church unanimously declare^ that the true chronology 
of the Pentateuch was preserved in the Sejptuagint^ 
hut shortened ly the Jews, after the destruction of 
Jerusalem. — Among them we specify Origen (Cont. 
C. I. 40), Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. 68. 71), Epi- 
phanius, Eusebius, Jerome, Augustine, Julian of To- 
ledo, Syncellus, besides many others. Eusebius and 
Jerome adopted the chronology of the Septuagint as 
the basis of their chronological tables. Jerome as- 
serts, again and again, that the Hebrew text had been 
corrupted by the Jews : e. g. ad Galat III. 10. 13. — 
Augustine combats, in a number of instances, the 

* Euseb. Praep. Ev. XIII. 12. 668. : Septinia cum veniet lux, cuncta 
absolvere ccEpit omnipotens pater; atque bonis est septinia et ipsa. 



138 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



falsified chronology of tlie Hebrew text.^ "The 
Christians," says he, " will not refuse credence to those 
books which the Church has received as possessing 
the highest authority: they believe that the ^uth is 
contained rather in these their books than in those 
of the Jews." — ^^ The Christians maintain, ihat it is 
incredible, that the seventy interpreters could have 
erred, or would have lied, as they had nothing to gain 
by it ; but that, on the contrary, the Jews had made 
certain alterations in their books, in order thus to 
diminish the authority of ours."—*' The Christian 
people are accustomed to hear the translation of the 
seventy, which has teen approved hy the Ajjostles 
themselves.''^ — " The very highest respect is due to the 
translation of the Seventy (the Septuagint), who, as 
the better informed Churches maintain, translated 
under such an influence of the Holy Spirit, that all 
were of one and the same mind." — Julianus Pome- 
ranius, the Catholic bishop of Toledo, did not hesitate, 
A. D. 685, to demonstrate, in spite of the already 

* August. Civ. D. XV. 11. 13; XVIII. 43: Christiaui nolentes dero- 
rogare fidem codicibus, quos in auctoritatem celebriorem suscepit ec- 
clesia; et credentes, Judseos potius, quam istos non habere, quodverum 
sit. — Sed cum hoc dixero, continuo refertur, illud .Tudseorum esse men- 
dacium. — Inquiunt, non esse credibile, septuaginta interpretes — errare 
potuisse, aut ubi nihil eorum intererat, voluisse mentiri. — Judaei veto — 
mutasse qusedam in codicibus suis, ut in nostris minueretur auctoritas. 
— Epist. ad Hieron. 0pp. II. f. 86 : Plebes Christi, quarum aures et 
corda illam interpretationem (X<XX.) audire consueverunt, quse etiam ab 
Apostolis approbata est. — Doctr. Christ. II. 15. 0pp. III. 29.: Septua- 
ginta interp return excellit auctoritas, qui jam per omnes peritiores ec- 
clesias tanta praesentia spiritus s. interpretati esse dicuntur, ut os unum 
tot hominum fuerit. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 139 

authorized Yulgate, that between the Creation and 
Christ's advent six thousand years had intervened, 
and that especially the chronology of the Septuagint 
was the work of the Holy Spirit.* Syncellus says ; 
" I concur entirely in the opinion, that this (the short- 
ening of the lives of several of the patriarchs, in the 
Hebrew text), was a criminal act of the Jews.f Thus 
then respectable Fathers of the Church testify, with- 
out being contradicted by others, that the original 
chronology of the Eible was preserved in the Septua- 
gint, but designedly falsified in the Hebrew ; and he 
who ventures to denounce, as liars, such holy men, 
who have been, at all times, ranked next to the Apos- 
tles, is not far from rejecting the testimony of the 
Apostles and Evangelists themselves. — 

4. To all this^ add the testimony of the disciples 
of John the Baptist^ and of the Pharisees. — For, 
suppose that Christ was born four thousand years 
after the creation ; then John's disciples and all 
the scribes of Judaea would most certainly have 
reproached him, as did the Jews in Spain 580 A. C, 
with being a false Messiah, since the true one was to 
come in the sixth millenium, or year-thousand. On 
that supposition, would Christ have ventured to chal- 

* Judaei pestilentiosis objectionibus garrientes, quod sumta annorum 
suppulatio ab initio mundi secundum Hebrseos codices quintam adhuc 
sseculi setatem insinuet, et nectum adhuc Christum venisse, quem in 
sexta credunt aetate saeculi advenire. — Septuaginta interpretes prophe- 
tandi potius munere, quam transferendi officio, divinas scripturas, reve- 
lante sibi Domino, transtulerunt. 

t Syncell. p. 84. Ed. Paris. 



140 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

lenge the Pharisees to test his claims, as recorded, 
St. John 5, 39.: "Search the Scriptures: they are 
they which testify of me ?" Or, would the Apostles 
have so frequently reiterated the assertion, that Christ 
came " in the fullness of time ? There is no trace to 
be found in the New Testament, or in all ecclesias- 
tical history, of such scruples respecting the chrono- 
logy of the Bible. — 

6. The same is proved hy the Churches founded hy 
the Apostles themselves, with which^ from their he- 
ginning down to the present time the Septuagint had 
the reputation of heing an unaltered translation of 
the genuine Rtbrew Bible. — Had the Alexandrine 
translation differed as much from the Hebrew as it 
now does, the Apostles and their congregations would 
certainly have rejected it. A translation of the 
Bible, according to which the advent of the Messiah 
was to be expected fifteen hundred years earlier than 
the Hebrew text taught, and which, after the fall ot 
Jerusalem, was condemned by all Jews as a wicked 
forgery : such a Bible would, beyond all question, 
have never been authorized either in the Synagogues, 
from which the first Christian communities proceed- 
ed, or in the Christian Churches themselves. 

6. Another evidence is to he found in the Chiliasm 
that prevailed in the time of the Apostles, for 
some time after. — For, how came the Christians 
to know, that the seventh millenium would begin 
130 years after Christ's birth ? Had such a chro- 
nological difference between the Hebrew and Greek 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 141 

Testaments been at that time already in existence ; 
had the latter been already condemned as a falsifi- 
cation of the Holy Scriptures, nobody would have 
assumed, that the great Sabbath of the world, the 
seventh millenium, would begin 130 years after 
Christ's nativity, and the corrupted chronology in the 
Septuagint would have been universally denounced. 
7. Philo and Josejyhus^ the most learned and ortho- 
dox Jews of antiquity^ loohed upon the Septuagint as 
possessing canonical authority. — Philo, born 25 A. C, 
declares the Septuagint to be the work of divine in- 
spiration. Josephus, born 39 A. C, the scion of a 
sacerdotal family at Jerusalem, who received the 
education and instruction of a priest, who under- 
stood, spoke and wrote the Hebrew language, and was 
the author of many valuable and classical works, 
assures us (Contr. Apion. I. 1033j, that his history of 
the Hebrews, from the creation, was derived from the 
Bible ; and yet we find in the works of Josephus the 
chronology of the Septuagint; and why is this? Be- 
cause there was not yet, in the time of Josephus, any 
difference between the two chronologies; because 
Akiba had not yet falsified the Hebrew. Whosoever 
can believe, that this Josephus had rejected the true 
history of his people, and had, in spite of his asser- 
tions to the contrary, corrupted it wittingly and pur- 
posely, antedating the creation, the deluge, the Pa- 
triarchs by fifteen hundred years, thus leads us to sus- 
pect that he is either unable, or unwilling to distin- 
guish between truth and falsehood. 



142 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

8. Of the same character is the testimony of the 
Jews in JEthiojpia^ who^ have even now, as missiona- 
ries relate, a hihlical chronology which agrees with 
that in the Sejytuagint. Those Jews emigrated in the 
time of Nebuchadnezzar from Palestine to Egypt, 
and thence to Ethiopia; and had they at any time 
known, that from the creation to Augustus not six 
thousand, but four thousand years had elapsed, then 
they would now reckon four thousand years only for 
that period. 

9. In the time of the seventy interpreters it was 
impossible, whereas after the destruction of Jerusalem, 
it was possible, to propagate among the Jews a new 
hihlical chronology. The king, Ptolemaeus Philadel- 
phus, 280 B. C, being desirous of connecting in his 
Alexandrian library all codes of the world, resolved 
to have a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible 
made, and entrusted the seventy members of the 
Synedrium of Alexandria with this honorable task. 
For that object the best manuscript copies were 
brought from Jerusalem. All the seventy learned 
scribes of the Synedrium took part in this trans- 
lation ; and since that time the Septuagint has found 
its way into the hands of many millions of Jews and 
Christians, and to the pulpits of synagogues and 
churches. Now, who will believe that those seventy 
officers had ventured to corrupt and abridge by fifteen 
hundred years the chronology of the Bible, as it was 
known to every Jew ? In what light would the king 
and his librarians have viewed such a fraud ? Would 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 143 

not such an invention, which misdated Christ's advent 
by about fifteen hundred years, have been immediately 
rejected by the Synedrium of Jerusalem and all the 
synagogues of Palestine, Egypt, Ethiopia, Asia Mi- 
nor, Greece, Italy, &c.? But entirely different was the 
state of affairs that obtained subsequent to the final 
destruction of Jerusalem. For, at that time no Syne- 
drium existed in Jerusalem ; nearly all manuscript- 
copies of the Hebrew Testament had been burnt, and 
the remnant of the people who spoke Hebrew, had 
been sold as slaves. Moreover, there was no reason 
at all, as early as 280 B. C, for lengthening the biblical 
chronology by fifteen hundred years ; whereas, after 
the destruction of Jerusalem, the unbelieving Jews 
were under the necessity of devising ways and means 
for making Christ appear to have been a false Mes- 
siah. 

10. Add to all this the positive testimonies of the 
Mahometans, who had no direct interest in the ques- 
tion, whether four thousand, or six thousand yea/rs 
intervened hetween Adam and Christ. Abulfedasays: 
*' Thus then remains to us the Greek translation, con- 
firmed by the best chronologists. There is nothing 
in it incongruous with the truth."^ Abulpharag re- 

* Abulfeda ed. Fleischer, Lips. 1831, p. 7: Eodem modo (Judsei) in 
vita omnium ejus (Adami) posterorum versati id effecerunt, ut setas 
mundi 1475 illis annis diminueretur. Cujus rei novandas Judaeis ea 
causa fuisse dicitur, quod, cum Pentateuchus aliique eorum libri Mes- 
siam extrema mundi atate adventurum esse promitterent, Messias (Jes. 
Chr.) autem revera in sexta mundi chiliade advenerit, ilia mutatione 
facta eum jam in quinta chiliade, igitur, si cum illis hoc sumamus, to- 



144 THE TRUE CHRONOLOCiY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

lates : " According to the Hebrew Testament there 
elapsed between the creation and Christ 1375 years 
less, than according to the Septuagint. This shorten- 
ing of time is the work of the older Rabbis. For, as 
it had been foretold in the Law and the Prophets, 
that the Messiah would come into the world in the 
last days (or time) at the end of the sixth millen- 
nium, they shortened the lives of the Patriarchs for 
the purpose of rejecting Christ, and expecting another 
Messiah."* Let the man who would venture to 
charge such candid, well-instructed and impartial 
men with intentional fraud, adduce a single witness 

tarn mundi setatem esse 7000 annorum, eo vero media, non extrcma, ad- 
venisse existimandum esset. — Restat igitur recensio Graeca, quam pro- 
barunt Chronologi accuratissimi. Nihil est in ratione veterum tempo- 
rum, qualis in ea reperitur, quod a veritate abhorreat. 

-" Abulpharag, Histor. Dynast. Uyn. 7., p. 72., ed. Pokok: Ab in- 
itio mundi usque at Messiam secundum computum Legis, quae in ma- 
nibus Judseorum est, anni sunt fere quatuor mille ducendi viginti. Et 
secundum computum Legis ex versione Septuaginta, quae in manibus 
Graecorum est, et reliquorum Christianorum sectarum, exceptis Syris, 
anni sunt fere quinquies mille quingenti octoginta sex ; deficiente com- 
pute priori a secundo, annis mille trecentis septuaginta quinque. Qui 
defectus adscribitur Doctoribus JudcBorum. Nam cum praenunciatum 
esset in Lege et Prophetis de Messia, missum iri ipsum ultimis temjpo- 
ribus ; nee aliud esset Rabbinis antiquioribus commentum, quo Christum 
rejicerent, quam si hominura aetates, quibus dignosceretur Mundi Epo- 
che, mutarent, sz^J^raxerunMe vita Adami, donee nasceretur Seth, centum 
annos, eosque reliquo ipsius vitae addiderunt ; idemque fecerunt in vitis 
reliquorum Adami filiorum, usque ad Abrahamum. Atque ita factum 
est, ut indicet eorum computus, manifestatum esse Christum millena- 
rio quinto, propc accedente ad medium annorum mundi ; qui omnes, se- 
cundum ipsos, futuri sunt septies mille. Dixeruntque : Nos adhuc in 
medio temporis sumus ; et nondum adest tempus adventus Messice desig 
natus. At computus Septuaginta Seniorum indicat, manifestatum esse 
Christum millenario sexto, atque adfuissc tempus ipsius. 



C NFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 145 

from among the Arabians, Greeks, or Romans, by 
whose testimony the contrary, that is, the falsification 
of the Septuagint, can be demonstrated. 

11. All the ancient people reckoned not four thou- 
sand^ hut six thousand years, from the creation of the 
world till Augustus J and this affords a general refu- 
tation of the chronology contained in the Hebrew manvr 
script copies of the Old Testament now accessihle to 
us. The history of the human race from the begin- 
ning till the deluge was handed down by antediluvian 
books, like that of Enoch, or by oral traditions, since 
the time of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japhet, the pro- 
genitors of all nations of the world. Since the de- 
luge every nation has had its own historical records 
and traditions concerning the ages, centuries and 
millenniums that have passed away since the deluge. 
No wonder then that we meet with common and cor- 
responding traditions among all the ancients concern- 
ing the epochs of the creation and the deluge. In 
the first place, the ancients mention six ages of the 
world, as intervening between the creation and the 
time of Augustus, namely, the golden, the silver, the 
brazen, the iron, the earthen ; during which Uranus, 
Saturn, Jupiter, MarSj Dionysius or Apollo, ruled the 
world in succession. Even the great image, seen by 
Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2, 31.), with its head of gold, 
its breast of silver, its belly of brass, its legs of iron, 
its feet part of iron, part of clay, indicates the same 
idea, although relating, there, to kingdoms that came 
after Nebuchadnezzar. Such ages of one thousand years 
7 



146 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

are found in the book of Psalms, and are expressly 
mentioned by other authors.^ Sometimes the An- 
cients assigned to Saturn a reign of two thousand 
years, Uranus being omitted, as is apparent even from 
the tradition, that the first settlers arrived in Italy in 
the time of Saturn ; for the first colonization of Italy 
could not have happened earlier than in the time of 
Phaleg three thousand years after the creation. Now, 
we find, that Hesiod, about 800 B. C, places the de- 
luge in the second age of the world, and his own life 
in the fifth or iron age.f Juvenal says, about one hun- 
dred years after Christ, that the iron (the fifth) age, 
was about to end at that time 4 The same is proved 
by a prophetic saying of old Orpheus, purporting 
that Pagan song and Pagan religion would cease dur- 
ing the sixth millennium after the creation. || There- 
fore Virgil also sung in the time of Augustus : " The 
last age of the world (the seventh millennium) is 
approaching, and a new generation will rise out of 
the elevated heaven. Be, thou chaste Lucina, o be 
propitious to the coming child, with whose advent the 
iron age will close." § It is then clear, that the Greeks 
and Romans knew, that the sixth millennium, ending 
about 130 A. C, had begun about 800 B. C, the fifth 

* Procolus in Plat. Tim. I. 45 : Kara hv tois hpoTs ypanfiara Tjj ^iXtdii 
litrptX Toiis piovs Tajv TzoXioiP. Tavr^ yap \iyovTai kol ol 6cLifiovci tov j(^p6vov 
jiCTpeTv- 

t Hesiod. Georg. v. 130, 154. 

t Juvenal. Sat. XIII. 28. 

II Plato, Phil. 66. G. ; Iktt) iv ycvea KaTairavaarai K6<Tjjiov doi6rii 

§ Virgil. Eel. IV. Bucol. I. 498. 



COxNFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 147 

about 1800 B. C, the fourth about 2800, the third 
about 3800j the second about 4800, and the first be- 
ginning with the creation, about 6800 B. C. But as 
they commonly assigned the first and second ages to 
Saturn, their fifth age of the world began about 800 
B. C. and so on. The same six thousand years be- 
tween the creation and Christ were known to the 
Egyptians. For they reckoned 80,000 lunar months 
(2424 solar years) from the creation to the deluge: 
thence to Menes, in the time of Peleg, 66Q years, and 
from Menes, who, according to astronomical observa- 
tions, reigned after 2781 B. C, down to Augustus 2750 
years ; together 6830 years.* We have also the tes- 
timony of the Phoenicians, that the deluge began in 
the thirty-second year (century) of Saturn's reign: 
and this, as we shall see, corresponds with the year 
2424 after the creation. The same year is given as 
that of the deluge by the Chinese.f And thus also 
Clemens Alexandrinus, Eusebius, Josephus and others 
mention a number of ancient historians, who counted 
from the creation to Augustus not four thousand but 
six thousand years.:}: Thus then the historical tradi- 
ditions of the ancient nations preserved by the instru- 
mentality of Noah and his descendants among all 
nations, confirm the history of the Septuagint, and 
confute the chronology arranged by Akiba. Any 

"• Procl. in Plat. Crotyl. ^ 138. p. 80. Boiss. : rpi'a yivn, riraproy ysvos, 

t Chronologia S. p. 236. 

t Clem. Al. Strom. C. I. Euseb. P. E. C. IX. Josephus c. A.p I 



148 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

man capable of pronouncing so many harmonizing 
historical traditions to be mere chimeras, has never 
had a just conception of what history is, nor ever 
learned, that every true historian is bound to retain 
ancient historical statements so long as their impos- 
sibility has not been demonstrated. 

12. The Hebrew chronology^ as arranged in the 
Masoretic Text^ according to the comnfion manuscript 
copies^ confides itself. For, in the first place, it is 
related that there existed as early as the time ot 
Nimrod, a great people and a large kingdom, "be- 
ginning with Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Cal- 
neh, in the land of Shinar." Now, if this same Nim- 
rod lived one hundred years after the flood, how'came 
it to pass, that in the course of one hundred years such 
populous nations and kingdoms proceeded from one and 
the same grandfather? — But according to the LXX. 
six hundred years intervened ; and within a period of 
this length a population so numerous was not at all 
impossible. For at that period a population would in- 
crease at least like the squares of the times (1. 4. 9. 

16 ), or their cubes (1. 16. 81. 253.)— It is stated, 

moreover, that in the time of Phaleg, Noah's descen- 
dants built the immense tower of Babel, and were 
scattered over the whole surface of the earth, and 
that thus all countries became inhabited, as is set 
forth in the tenth chapter of Genesis. Now, if Pha- 
leg lived 130 years after the deluge, who can conceive 
how it was, that 130 years after Shem, Ham and Ja- 
phet, their descendants were so numerous as to have 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 149 

populated all countries in Asia, Africa and Europe? 
But, according to the LXX., from Noah to Phaleg Q6Q 
years passed ; and thus the stumbling-block crumbles 
into dust. — Furthermore, Abraham, arriving in Ca- 
naan, met there with several mighty kings, against 
whom he warred. Now, I think 867 years after the 
deluge, Canaan, as well as the other countries of the 
world, hardly contained already such mighty kingdoms. 
But, the LXX. makes the same period 1149 years 
long ; and then the impossibility is removed. Like- 
wise we find in the LXX., that the lives of all patri- 
archs from their birth till the birth of their sons 
diminish, since Adam, the later, the more. But, in 
in the Hebrew text now at hand we read, that the 
patriarchs from Noah to Abraham begot the first son 
a hundred years sooner, than the later patriarchs from 
Abraham to Joshua. And why ? Because Akiba had 
shortened the lives of all the patriarchs, anterior to 
Abraham, one hundred years each. He,who prefers re- 
moving such contradictions and extravagancies by 
wonders, does not yet know, for what scope the true 
wonders of God were destined. 

13. Astronomical ohservat{o7is, made hy the An- 
cients^ and going 'back till Phaleg^ and the deluge^ 
and the day after the creation^ confirm the LXX.^ 
and refuteour present Masoretic chronology with mathe- 
tnatical certainty. The knowledge of the starry heavens 
and the first planets, including the sun and moon : 
Astronomy, is coeval with the human eye, as is self- 



150 THE TEUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

evident, and as the Ancients expressly say.^ The 
Word of God itself tells us (Gen. 1, 14.) : " Let there 
be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide 
the day from the night, and let them he for signs (of 
time), and for seasons (periods), and for days, and 
and years." Of the planets the Ancients knew Sa- 
turn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the 
the Moon ; and likewise all the constellations of the 
Zodiac, its thirty-six Decuriae and 860 degrees, among 
which they saw the planets every day moving a 
little. The conjunction of the seven planets with 
certain signs, or certain segments of the Zodiac, is 
called a planetary configuration. Every day brings 
another planetary configuration; and there are in the 
whole history of the world, as every astronomer 
knows, not two days with the same planetary configu- 
ration.! This fact is the only basis of a true chrono- 
logy, and the only instrument for correcting, with 
mathematical certainty, the ancient history and chro- 
nology, since the day of creation. For since that day 
human eyes have observed, in what places of the Zo- 
diac the seven planets stood, as often as in their days 
a remarkable event occurred; and such planetary 
configurations were remembered and handed down to 
us by the instrumentality of monuments and sacred 
records. And all such planetary configurations were 
real perceptions of the human eye, not at all results 

* Jos. Ant. I. 2, 3. 3, 8. Cicero De Divin. I. 1. Astron.^g. I. 1. 
III. 212. 

t Astronomia ^gypt. p. 51. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 151 

of astronomical calculations. For, without the Co- 
pernican system and astronomical tables, which were 
denied to the ancient world till Copernicus, nobody 
was able to determine, what places of the heaven 
were, at a certain time, occupied by the seven planets. 
For us, on the contrary, it is an easy matter to make 
out, by means of our valuable tables, the date of 
every old planetary configuration, and consequently 
to determine also the years, and days, and hours of 
historical events, being connected with such astrono- 
mical observations. 

In the first place, the ancient Egyptians since the 
time of their first king Menes, observed and recorded 
numberless planetary configurations, occurring at re- 
markable events, for instance, at the birth of a Pha- 
raoh, at the beginning of a new era, &c.* Of that 
kind are sixteen monuments, already found, repre- 
senting the planetary configuration at the beginning 
of the Egyptian empire after Menes' arrival, in the 
time of Phaleg.f And this configuration occurred 
only in the year 2781 B. C, on the twentieth of July, 
then the day of the summer solstice. In the same 
year, the commencement of the first canicular period, 
Menes began to reign according to the Vetus Chroni- 
con, Herod ot, Diodorus Siculus,Manetho, Eratosthenes, 
the Tables of Abydos and Karnak. Now, supposing 



* Diodor. Sic. I. 81. 83: ras nepl Ikuittcov aarpaiy ij/aypa^aj e^ Iroav 
aniaTOiv ro) rrX>j-&et ^vXarTovtri. Aristotel. De Ccelo II. 12. Simplicius p. 
27, a. 

t Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte und Zeitrechnung. Tab. 1. 



152 THE TRUE CIIiiONOLCGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

the chronology in our Masoretic text to be true, Me- 
nes did reign not in the time of Phaleg, but 1135 
years before the deluge; then we must declare the 
general flood to be a myth. The LXX., on the con- 
trary, put Menes and Phaleg in the year 666 after the 
flood, which ended 3447 B. C. 

The same is proved by passages of Mercury (Phoe- 
nix) over the disk of the sun, and by the Phoenix-pe- 
riods of the ancients Egyptians. For, those periods 
of 652 years, as the Ancients tell, .began with Sesos- 
tris, a king of Manetho's twelfth Dynasty, the last one 
in the sixth year of the emperor Claudius; and, in 
fact. Mercury passed the sun-disk 2555 B. C, April 
sixth, in the time of Sesostris. Consequently Sesos- 
tris and all his predecessors must be placed before 
the deluge, according to the chronology of our Maso- 
retic text. 

Furthermore, the year of the deluge (2311 B. C. 
according to the Hebrew, 3447 B C. in the LXX.), is 
determined mathematically by several astronomical 
observations.^ First, the Ancients say, that the Al- 
phabet is as old as the language ; and, indeed, the one 
was inseparable from the other. Then we meet with 
the tradition among the Phoenicians, Babylonians, 
Greeks, Romans and other nations, that Noah, in the 
time of the flood, had brought the letters of the Al- 
phabet in a new order for the purpose of expressing, 

* Unser Alphabet ein Abbild des Thierkreises, am 7. Sept. 3446 v. 
Chr. Leipz., 1834. Unurastosslicher Beweis, cet. Leipz., 1839. 
Alphabeta genuina, cet. 1840. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 163 

by means of the seven vowels, the places of the seven 
planets in the Zodiac* Thus we find the following 
places of the planets : Saturn and Moon in the first 
part of Gemini, Jupiter in the second part of Aquarius, 
Mars in the second part of Scorpio, Venus in the first 
part of Leo, Mercury in the first part of Libra, the 
Sun in the second part of Virgo. As such a plane- 
tary configuration could not occur but once in millions 
of years, and did only occur in the year 8447 B. C, 
Sept. 7th ; the true epoch of the deluge is determined ; 
and then the Biblical chronology in the LXX. mathe- 
matically confirmed. The same epoch is ascertained 
by an old astronomical tradition, viz. " in the time of 
the deluge the luminous star Taurus (a Tauri) was 
four degrees only distant from the vernal equinoctial 
point." For, according to the shortened chronology 
in the Hebrew, which makes the deluge 1100 years 
later, the same star stood more than sixteen degrees 
off; and 2311 B. C. quite another planetary configu- 
ration was to be seen than that expressed in the Al- 
phabet. 

Lastly, even the year and day of the creation- are 
fixed by a great number of astronomical traditions, 
of which one confirms the other mathematically. In 

* Sanchunjathon in Euseb. P. E. ; I. 10: jjiiirjaaiievos rdv ovpavdv, tcov 
^£cj»' oxLeii Kpovov re Kal raydvos Koi rwv Xotrrwi', iuTVitoiccv, tovs Upovg riHv 
oTotp^etwv ;(;apa/cr»jjoaf, i. e. " (Noah) made the Alphabet to be a sketch 
of the Zodiac, namely of its signs, of the houses of Saturn, Jupiter 
and the other gods." This passage has been explained in extenso in 
Seebode, Jahn and Klotz's Jahrbiicher fiir Philol. 1834. II. Suppl. B 
p. 505. 

7* 



154 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

the first place, all the nations of antiquity held, that 
between the creation and the time of Augustus nearly 
four great world-periods, averaging three thousand 
years each, intervened. Such periods were the Yugas 
of the Hindoos, the Saras of the Chaldaeans, the pe- 
riods of three thousand years in the Zendavesta, the 
four world-periods of the Orphici, and others.^ The 
first of these four periods began with the day of crea- 
tion, and each of them comprised the term during 
which the Zodiac progresses thirty degrees, and the 
equinoctial point recedes thirty degrees in the Zodiac. 
In reality the Zodiac moves thirty degrees towards 
the East, during the space of 2146 years ; but as the 
ancients, who had no astronomical instruments, found 
that the Zodiac moved forward one degree in one 
hundred years, they gave to every world-period three 
-thousand instead 2146 years. To those same periods 
the Grecian and Roman myths also refer, which re- 
present the world as having been governed, during 
the first age, by Uranus, until he was cast into Tarta- 
rus by his son Saturn, who then assumed the reins of 
government, and was afterwards himself dethroned 
and succeeded by his son, Jupiter. Saturn, so says 
the myth, devoured his own children, with the ex- 
ception of Jupiter; and thus the tradition states, that 
the flood swallowed up the children of the world 
during the time of Saturn's reign, i. e., at least 2146 
years after the creation. 

* Prod, in Plat. Tim. 135. Creuzer's Symbolik, IV. 88. ed. 3. 
vide Chronologia Sacra, 153 sqq. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 155 

The ancients, moreover, divided each of these 
world-periods into three parts or astronomical ages of, 
in round numbers, a thousand years each, assuming 
that during one thousand years the Zodiac moved 
the third part of a sign, one Decuria, or ten degrees. 
But as the Zodiac requires only 715 years to advance 
ten degrees, each of these astronomical ages more 
properly comprised 715 years. These astronomical 
ages, then, were by the Hindoos called Avatarae (mu- 
tations) ; by the Parsees, small signs of the Zodiac, of 
which the first three, Aries, Taurus and Gemini, be- 
longed to the constellation of Gemini.*' According 
to the Hindoos, eight Avatara9 elapsed between the 
creation and the time of Augustus, and two more 
down to the present time, being ten altogether: the 
Parsees reckoned from the creation to the Sassanidas 
(641 B. C), nine such astronomical ages. Now it is 
shown, by an easy calculation, that in the 5871 B. C. 
the vernal equinoctial point occupied the last degree 
in the sign Gemini, and that in the year 8725 B. C. 
the same point was between Gemini and Taurus, in 
the year 1579 B. C. between Taurus and Aries, and 
lastly, in 568 A. C. between Aries and Pisces. In 
short, the ancients knew, that the first world-period 
of 2146 years began at the time when the equinoctial 
point was in the last degree of Gemini ; that from 
the creation to Augustus eight astronomical ages of 
715 years had expired, and so on ; consequently it 

* Chronologia Sacra, 165. Zendavesta, Bun-Deh. XXXIV. p. 110. 
Kleuk. 



156 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

was universally known, that the history of the world 
had commenced 5871 B. C. The same year of the 
creation is pointed out by the tradition, that, at the 
time of the creation, the dog-star, Sirius, rose to- 
gether with the Sun, and also by the astronomer 
Theon, who relates, that a new canicular period be- 
gan in the fifth year of Augustus (27 B. C), on the 
first day of Thoth (29th August).=^ For both these 
witnesses point to the year 5871 B. C, as the begin- 
ning of history. Thus then all these astronomical ob- 
servations, preserved and distinctly handed down by 
antediluvian records, or Noachian traditions, concur 
in again confirming the chronology of the Septuagint, 
and in confuting that which is contained in the pre- 
sent Masoretic text. 

Lastly, the hand of Providence has preserved for 
us even the planetary configurations, observed by the 
ancients at the beginning of those four world-periods.f 
That planetary configuration, which is connected 
with the commencement of the first world-period, and 
which, clearly explained by Hamza of Ispahan; was 
designated by all the nations of antiquity as the 
Hypsomata Planetarum (the beginnings of the pla- 
nets), exactly describes the places of the seven pla- 

'■* Porphyr. and ^Eneas Gaz. Ant. Nymph. 264. Comp. Schmidt's 
Zeits. f. Gesch. 11. 264. 

t Bentley, Historical View of the Hindoo Astronomy. Lond. 1825, 
p. 110. 15 Ramayana, I. 19. Zendavesta, H. 353. ed. Anquet , HI. 
63. ed. Kleuk. Chronique d'Abou Dj. Moh. Tabari, Par. 1836. ed. 
Dubeux, C. 2. Ptolem. Quadrip. I. c. 20. p. 15. ed. Bas. Sext. 
Empir. V. c. 32. See Astronom.^Eg. I. 17. Cbronologia Sacra, p. 177. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 157 

nets on the tenth day of May (Julian style), in the 
year 5871 B. C, which day was, at that time, that of 
the vernal equinox, and a Sunday, on which day 
Christ, the second Adam, rose from the dead. 

The planetary configuration connected with the 
commencement of the second world-period, 2146 
years subsequent to the first, gives the year 3725 B. C; 
the third, 2146 years later, brings us to 1519 B. C. ; 
the fourth and last, 2146 years later, to the year 598 
A. D. All these have their origin, not in planetary 
configurations, are not the result of calculations ; 
for the ancients had neither the system of Copernicus, 
nor astronomical tables ; but from autoptical contem- 
plation of the starry heaven ; and this heavenly clock, 
mentioned already in Genesis 1, 14., has never run 
down or gone wrong since the day of its creation. In 
short, all these and the other astronomical observa- 
tions of the ancient world, which mutually confirm 
each other, concur in demonstrating with mathema- 
tical certainty, that between Adam and Christ not 
4000, but 6000 years elapsed. Thus then, although 
many a Christian may, since the Yulgate was invested 
with canonical authority in the Occident, have enter- 
tained the conviction, that the true biblical chrono- 
logy was preserved in the Hebrew text, as found in 
manuscripts accessible 300 years ago in European 
libraries, and not in the Septuagint ; we may fairly 
hope that many readers will now change their opin- 
ion. May every one examine calmly and without 
prejudice the aforesaid arguments, which have just 



158 THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

been presented, and of which we here give a brief 
resume. 

No man has ever proved, nor is it susceptible of 
proof, that God was under obligations to preserve in 
the Hebrew Pentateuch the true chronology. And 
the question, whether the true biblical chronology 
was handed down in the Hebrew text, or in the Sep- 
tuagint, which reckons 2000 years more, does not at 
all belong to those articles of faith, on which the 
salvation of the Christian Church, or of individuals 
depends. 

Christ, the Apostles and Evangelists did not reject 
either the Septuagint, or its chronology, but confirm- 
ed it, as is explicitly stated by St. Augustine, one of 
the Fathers of the Church. 

The Prophets of the Old Testament, who were un- 
der the guidance of the Holy Spirit, reckoned from 
Adam to Christ not 4000, but 6000 years, as all the 
ancient interpreters testify. 

The disciples of John the Baptist, the Pharisees, 
the first Christian Churches believed, without contra- 
diction, that Christ was to be revealed in the fullness 
of times, in the sixth millennium after the creation. 

The oldest and most learned Fathers of the Church, 
and Mahometans also, testify, that the Apostate Akiba 
shortened the original biblical chronology by about 
1500 years. 

The Chiliasts in and after the time of the Apostles 
knew, that in their day not 4000, but nearly six thou- 
sand years had elapsed since the creation. 



CONFIRMED BY ASTRONOMICAL FACTS. 159 

Philo, JosephuSj and the Jews in Ethiopia, and 
even the Mahometans confirm the chronology of the 
Septuagint. 

In the time of the seventy interpreters it was im- 
possible, but after the fall of Jerusalem it was quite 
possible, to propagate a corrupted biblical chronology. 

All ancient nations reckoned, in accordance with 
Noachian traditions, not 4000, but 6000 years from 
the Creation to Christ. 

The chronology of the present Masoretic text pre- 
sents the strangest contradictions and incongruities, 
whilst the Septuagint agrees with itself. 

Among all the nations of antiquity old astrono- 
mical observations were preserved, by means of which 
the beginning of each of the four world-periods, the 
date of the deluge, the arrival of Menes in Egypt, in 
the days of Phaleg, the arrival of the Israelites in 
Mizraim, the birth of Moses, the exody of the He- 
brews, and many other historical events become fixed 
as certainly as the multiplication-table ; and all these 
epochs thus fixed, do not harmonize with the Hebrew 
chronology, shortened by Akiba by 1500 years, but on 
the contrary, they agree with the Septuagint. 

And now I may be allowed to ask the reader, by 
what arguments these irrefutable facts can be contro- 
verted ? Or, who is able to refute what has been thus 
mathematically established as truth ? — 



160 THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTl)RY 

XXI. THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 
CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVA- 
TIONS 

The computation of time as respects the history of 
the Greeks and Romans, which is, at present, univer- 
sally in use, has been derived from Petavius, but 
also contains, as is well known, the greatest contra- 
dictions and incongruities. The most recent demon- 
stration of this will be found in the Chronological 
Tables of Clinton and Fischer. Thus, according to 
Grecian chronology, as given by Petavius, the Olym- 
pic games occurred in years differing from those ob- 
tained by means of his Roman chronology ; a great 
number of eclipses of the sun and the moon, which 
the historians place in the years of particular Consuls 
and Archons, occurred, according to the reckoning ot 
Petavius, a year or two later, than is affirmed by 
annalists and eye-witnesses ; and Petavius even pre- 
tended that many of them had been supernatural 
phenomena. All these contradictions and mathema- 
tical impossibilities, have now been rectified by 
means of Egyptian, Greek and Roman astronomical 
observations, and through the Apis-periods, and the 
re-appearances of the Phcenix.^ Petavius has, in his 
heedlessness, had the misfortune to take the consuls 
of 47 and 78 A. C, namely, L. Coccajus Commodus, 

* This subject has been treated in extenso in my " Berichtigungen 
der Romischen, Griechischen, Persischen Geschichte und Zeitrech- 
nung," Leipz, 1855. " Chronologia Sacra," Leipz. 1846, p. 9. 16. 
"Gottinger Gelehrte Anzeigen," 1855, No. 125, p. 1241. 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 161 

associated with D. Novius Priscus, and the consuls 
Kufus, associated with Silvanus, for ordinarii, whereas, 
they were mere consules suffecti, or extraordinarii, 
as might and ought to have been ascertained from 
the Roman inscriptions and coins. Petavius, assign- 
ing to each of those consuls two entire years, inserted 
them in the succession of the ordinary consuls, and 
hence dated all their predecessors, consequently also 
the whole Roman and Grecian history too far back 
from Titus to Claudius by one year, and from Clau- 
dius backward, by two years. One example will elu- 
cidate this sufficiently. On account of the Consuls 
inserted in the years 47 and 78 A. C, Petavius was 
obliged to place Ctesar's death in the year 44 instead 
of 42 B. C. In the same year the Julian Calendar 
was introduced, and its first January, as we learn from 
the historians, and from the Julian coins, struck, at the 
same time, and for that purpose, began on the day of a 
new moon. But in the year 44 B. C. the new moon oc- 
curred twenty days later ; and only in the year 42 B. C. 
the new moon appeared on the first of January. Fur- 
ther, the last lunar year of the Romans must, for the 
very reason that it was a lunar year, have begun with a 
new moon. This last lunar year of the Romans, con- 
sisting of 445 days, had commenced, as is well-known, 
on the 13th of October. But neither in 46, nor in 47, 
and not until 44 B. C. did a new moon occur on the 
13th of October ; again, therefore, two years later. 
The historians furthermore relate that on the night 
preceding Caesar's assassination, on the 15th of March, 



162 THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 

Calpurnia, Ca3sar's wife, was awakened by the light 
of the full moon ; another impossibility for Petavius 
to dispose of; for not until 42 B. C. was the moon 
full in the night from the 14th to the 15th of March. 
A short time before Ca3sar's death the Romans wit- 
nessed a total eclipse of the moon ; but this could 
have occurred on the 13th of March only in the year 
42 B. C. — In short, Petavius has incorrectly inserted 
the said consuls in 47 and 78 A. C, and Caesar's 
death did not occur in the year 44, and not until 42 
B. C. The same is proved by all eclipses of that 
time, certified by the ancients ; for these eclipses oc- 
curred two years later, than would be required by the 
chronology of Petavius. 

As respects the Grecian history, we know that in 
the month of July next following Cassar's death, the 
Olympic games were celebrated. Now, as this did 
not occur in 44, but as late as 42 B. C; all Grecian 
history, as arranged by Petavius, must move down 
two years. This appears already from the aforemen- 
tioned planetary configuration at the beginning of 
the Olympiads, which occurred not 780, but 778 B. C. 
For the Olympiads, like all the eras of the Ancients, 
began with nought. Not until the close of the 
first Olympiad were events dated from their epochs, 
and therefore, for example. Olympiad 1, year second, 
signifies the second year of the second Olympiad. 
Thus then this second Olympiad began not 776, but 
774^. C, i. e. two years later than Petavius taught. 
By means of these corrections in Grecian history two 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 163 

other facts of great importance have come to light ; 
these facts, namely, that the Greeks and the Hebrews 
computed time, not by lunar months, but by fixed 
solar months. As respects the Greeks, this was main- 
tained already by Scaliger, Clinton, and many others, 
but they were prevented by the confusion which 
Petavius had introduced in Grecian history, from 
proving what they asserted, or giving a correct view 
of the solar calendar of the Greeks, which even 
Halma found in an ancient manuscript. The Attic 
month Gamelion, the Macedonian Apellaeus, always 
commenced on the fourth of December, according to 
the Julian year. That the Hebrews reckoned until 
after the destruction of Jerusalem, by fixed solar 
months of thirty days, we learn from Josephus, the 
earlier Rabbis, many passages of the Old Testament 
and the days of the Jewish Sabbaths assigned to cer- 
tain days of the month in certain years. The first 
day of the month Nisan of the ecclesiastical year of 
the Hebrews began on the sixth of March, Julian 
time. 

The arguments which prove that the Greeks and 
Hebrews always reckoned time according to solar 
months, are the following.* 

1. Theodorus Gaza (Petavii Uranolog. c. 9.) says ex- 
pressly, that the ancient Greeks had for their reli- 
gious festivals a lunar year of 354 days, but for the 
civil life a solar year, consisting of 12 months of 30 

* Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte u. Zeitrechnung, p. 17. 
Chronologia Sacra, p. 26. 



164 THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 

days each, with 5, and in leap years, with 6 intercalary 
days. The same is affirmed by Censorinus (De die 
nat. c. 18), the best chronologist of the Ancients, who 
says also, that the years in which the Olympic games 
took place were solar leap-years. 

2. Homer, 1000 B. C, Hesiod, 900 B. C, and Hero- 
dotus, 500 B. C, hence the most ancient poets and 
historians among the Greeks nowhere mention lu- 
nar months, but speak of the tropic, or exact solar 
year of the Greeks. 

3. According to this same year, with its four 
seasons, and its twelve months of thirty days each, 
the ancient inhabitants of Attica were divided into 
four Philae, twelve Phratri^, and thirty tribes ; 
which do not at all agree with the thirteen 
months of lunar years, nor with the twenty-nine 
days of lunar months. 

4. The well known chronological riddle of Cleo- 
bulus, in the time of Solon, 600 B. C, is based upon 
the 12 solar months, and the 30 days of the solar 
month. Those 12 mothers, and the 30 children of 
each, being on one side black, on the other white, 
obviously to signify the 12 months and their 30 
days, being partly dark, and partly bright. 

5. During the festival, called Daphnophoria, not 
354, but 365 ribbons, emblems of the 365 days of 
the ordinary year, were suspended from a globe, re- 
presenting the Sun, the author of the year and its 
days. 

6. Aristotle (Hist. An. VI. 20), Hippocrates (De 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 165 

raorb. vulg. II. 1031.; De corn. p. 254), Julian (Or. 
IV. p. 155, Lips.) instance only solar months of 
thirty days, as the basis of their reckonings. 

7. Supposing that the different countries and 
islands of Greece had a lunar calendar, like Meton's ; 
then their months would necessarily have everywhere 
begun with the same day, because the crescent was 
visible everywhere on the same evening. But the 
Greek historians relate, that the same months al- 
ways began in Sparta two days later, in Boeotia 
seven days earlier, in Corinth five days earlier, in 
Ephesus ten days earlier than they did in Attica, 
and so on ; which w^ould have been impossible ac- 
cording to lunar calendars. 

8. At and subsequent to the time of Alexander 
the Great, the Macedonian months were introduced 
into all parts of Asia ; but we meet there always 
with Macedonian months of thirty days, and not 
with a lunar calendar. 

9. The Scholiast to Pindar, 01. III. 35, relates, 
that the Olympic games, which were always cele- 
brated from the 11th to the 16th of the lunar 
month Hecatombaeon, happened sometimes in the 
month of Apollonius, sometimes in the month 
of Parthenius ; consequently the latter were solar 
months. 

10. Alexander the Great was born during the 
Olympic games, that is on the 6th of Boedro- 
mion (Plut. Alex. 3. and others) ; consequently this 
month must have been a solar one. 



166 THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 

11. The Equinoxes and Solstices always occurred 
among the Greeks on the same days of the Grecian 
months (Aristot. Hist. An. Y. 9. 11. Theophr. H. 
P. TV. 12. VII. 1, and so forth), consequently the 
Greek calendar was a solar one. 

12. In the year 489 B. C. a full moon happened 
on the 2d of Boedromion (Herod. YI. 106. 120). In 
the year 429 B. C. a crescent was observed by Me- 
ton on the 13th of Scirophorion (Diod. Sic. XII. 36). 
In the year 411 B. C. a total eclipse of the moon 
was observed on the 9th of Metageitnion (Thuc. 
YIL 50. Plut. Nik. 33). In the year 422 B. C. an 
eclipse of the sun was seen on the 16th of Anthes- 
terion (Thuc. lY. 52. Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 581. 
Scaligeri Synag. and Euseb. 1658, p. 431). In the 
year 409 B. C. a new moon occurred on the 2d day 
of Hekatombseon (Corpus Insc. Grgec. Yol. I. P. II. 
No. 107). In the year 312 B. C. the 26th of the lu- 
nar month Gamelion corresponded with the 11th of 
the solar month Gamelion (Corp. Insc. Greec. Yol. I. 
P. II. No. 11). 

By means of these historical and mathematical 
traditions, as well as of many others of the same 
kind, it is demonstrated w4th incontrovertible cer- 
tainty, Jlrst, that both the Athenian and the Mace- 
donian civil months, which were of the same cha- 
racter (Demosth. D.C., Orat. Grsec. I. 280), were not 
at all, as many chronologists have asserted, lunar 
months like Meton's ; secondly, that the " Greek ca- 
lendar," discovered by Halma (Chronologie de Pto- 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSEliVATIOOS. 



167 



lemee, p. 40), in an old manuscript, which compares 
the Greek months with Julian days, as is shown 
below, was indeed that of the ancient Greeks. All 
the said astronomical observations of the Greeks 
correspond with the Julian days, which Raima's 
manuscript compares with Greek dates. According- 
ly, the civil months of the ancient Greeks always 
began on the annexed Julian days, that is to say, 
at sunset. 



Attic Calendar. 

Gamelion, 

Anthesterion, 

Elaphebolion, 

Munychion, 

Thargelion, 

Scirophorion, 

Hekatombaeon, 

Metageitnion, 

Boedromion, 

Pyanepsion, 

Maemacterion, 

Poseideon, 

5 Epagomenoi, 



Macedonian Calendar. 

Apelleeus, 
Andynaeus, 
Peritius, 
Dystrus, 
Xanthicus, 
Artemisius, 
Dassius, 
Panemus, 
Lous, 
Gorpiseus, 
Hyperberetaeus, 
Dius, 
5 Epagomenoi, 



Julian Days. 

4th December. 
8d January. 
2d February* 
4th March. 
8d April. 
8d May. 
2d June. 
2d July. 
1st August. 
81st August. 
80th September. 
80th October. 
29th November. 



With the aid of this calendar it was easy to re- 
move all the chronological contradictions and in- 
congruities in Clinton's Fasti Hellenici, and similar 
Tables, and thus all the dates of Grecian history 
have now been definitely traced to distinct days of 



168 THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 

our own reckoning, with which they precisely cor- 
respond. 

In respect of the Hebrew calendar it was also 
believed, that it consisted of lunar months.* This 
opinion was based upon the Kabbis, who pretend, 
that the Jewish calendar in use since the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem by Titus, is as old as Moses. But 
these Rabbis are contradicted by others, and by 
their own falsehoods. For other Rabbis testify, 
that, down to the destruction of Jerusalem, the He- 
brews used solar months only. But who can be- 
lieve, that the Grand Synedrium of Jerusalem was 
thrice convened, at the time of every new moon, 
for the purpose of waiting for three reliable wit- 
nesses ; that thereupon they announced by fires, the 
crescent, whose arrival had been thus certified ; that 
after they had been imposed upon by the Sama- 
ritans, this announcement was, in later times, made 
by runners despatched to every part of Judfea, and 
that, finally, these witnesses were entertained at 
the public expense ? It was impossible for the 
whole of Palestine, which extended over fifty 
geographical miles, to begin the lunar months in 
this way, everywhere and always with the same 
evening, particularly if there happened to be cloudy 
weather in Jerusalem at the time of several con- 
secutive new moons. — The Hebrew name of the 

* See Zeitschrill der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, 
1848, p. 344, with my treatise : Haben die Hebraer schon vor Jeru- 
salems Zerstorung nach Mondmonaten gerechnet ? 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 169 

new moon hodesh, proves nothing in favor of those 
Rabbis, as many have pretended. For Jwdesh^ as 
well as the Greek numenia (new moon) signifies 
both the first day of the solar and the first of the 
lunar month. The same remark applies to Jose- 
phus' dates, Itata selenen. For selene signified in 
Greek the middle of the month, the fifteenth day; 
and the months of the Jewish ecclesiastical year 
began in the middle, i. e., of the fifteenth day of 
the several civil months. As often then, as Jose- 
phus mentions a date, T<:ata selenen^ he means the 
months of the ecclesiastical year. That the He- 
brews, as well as the Christian Church had two 
different years, an ecclesiastical and a civil year, 
which (i. e. the civil), began 15 days later, we learn 
already from Haggai 2, 1. 2., where the 24th of the 
6th coincided with the 11th (not 21st) day of thei 
7th month, and from many other traditions. — Final- 
ly, the book, De Septennio, which has been ascrib- 
ed to Philo, but is wanting in nearly all manu- 
scripts, is refuted by Philo himself.- — It is then im- 
possible to demonstrate that the Hebrews used lu- 
nar months before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
The arguments which prove the use of the solar 
calendar by the ancient Hebrews are principally 
these. Credible Rabbis testify that the original 
months of the Old Testament were solar months. 
Haggai 2, 1. 2. is unmeaning without solar months. 
Josephus relates, that Moses, at the time of the 
exody, tctained the Egyptian calendars, and the 
8 



170 THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 

Egyptians never used lunar months. — Josephus and 
Philo assure us, that Easter always occurred on the 
" day of the vernal equinox," " the day of the crea- 
tion,** which would have been impossible according 
to lunar months. The earliest Fathers of the 
Church, and the first Christian communities derived 
none but solar months from the Jews and the 
Apostles, as, for instance, the Quartadecimana tes- 
tify. — Daniel andthe Apocalyse express three years and 
six months by 1260 days, because the calendar of the 
Hebrews consisted of solar months of thirty days. 
Josephus computes large intervals of time accord- 
ing to solar months, for instance, Ant. XYIII. 2. 2. 
Bell. Jud.VI. 4. 8.— From 1 Chron. 28, 1, and 1 Kings 
4, 7. and 1 Sam. 20, 5. it is evident, that the He- 
brews had none but twelve solar months, which began 
on certain days. The history of the deluge is based 
upon solar months of thirty days each. — In the Old 
Testament we meet very often with periods of 80, 
of 60 and 90 days ; which correspond with solar 
months. — Suppose that the Hebrews had used dur- 
ing 2000 years a lunar year, with an intercalary 
month inserted after two or three years, there would 
be some mention or memorial of this; but there is 
no trace of an intercalary month either in the 
whole Old and New Testament, or in Josephus and 
Philo, or in the Apocrypha, or in the ancient Meno- 
logia, or in the ancient history of the Church. — 
Josephus very often compares Hebrew months and 
days with Macedonian months and days, and ex- 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 171 

presses Hebrew dates by means of the Greek ca- 
lendar only, the latter,^ however, was a solar one. — 
According to solar months all remarkable events of 
the Old Testament happened on the days of the 
Equinoxes and the Solstices, for instance, the foun- 
dations and the dedications of the temples and 
altars. On the same cardinal days the most remark- 
able events of the New Testament happened, for in- 
stance, the annunciation, the birth, the resurrection of 
Christ, and the birth of John the Baptist. ' And thus 
we learn, that all remarkable epochs of the New 
Testament were typically sanctified a long time be- 
fore by the Old Testament, beginning at the day 
succeeding the end of the creation, which was the 
day of the vernal equinox, the day of the resurrec- 
tion. — During the crucifixion, on the 14th day of 
Nisan, Dionysius Areopagita saw in Ethiopia an 
eclipse of the sun ; which, according to lunar 
months, could not have happened on that day. — 
The Greeks, the Romans, Josephus, the Apocrypha, 
and the New Testament mention a great number 
of Hebrew dates that fell upon Saturdays or Sun- 
days ; and all these events according to lunar 
months, occurred on other days than those stated 
by the ancients. Thus the 6th of Sivan (10th May) 
125 B. C. was a Sunday (Joseph. Ant. XIII. 8. 4), 
the 15th Nisan (20th March) 59 A. C. a Tuesday 
(Acts 20, 6—12), the 10th Lous (Ab), and the 8th 
Gorpiteus (Elul) 71 A. C, the 10th of Tischri 62 
and 35 B. C. Saturdays, the 17th of ^isan 33 A. C. 



172 



THE GRECIAN AND ROMAN HISTORY 



a Sunday (Matt. 28, 1), and so on. By means of 
these mathematical and astronomical facts it was 
easy to re-establish both the ecclesiastic, and the 
civil solar calendar of the ancient Hebrews, sub- 
sequent to the Babylonian captivity, as follows. 



Ecclesiastical Year. 


Civil Year. 


Julian iear. 


1st Nisan, 


20th Adar, 


6th March. 


12th 


Intercalary days, 


17th 


17th 


1st Nisan, 


22d 


1st Jjar [Zif or 


15th 


5th April. 


Ziv] 






17th 


1st Jjar or [Zif 


21st 


1st Sivan, 


15th 


5th May. 


17th 


1st Sivan, 


21st 


1st Tammuz, 


15th 


4th June. 


17th 


1st Tammuz, 


20th 


1st Ab, 


15th 


4th July. 


17th 


1st Ab, 


20th 


1st Elul, 


15th 


8d August. 


17th 


1st Elul, 


19th 


1st Tischri, 


15th 


2d September. 


17th 


1st Tishri, 


18th 


1st Marcheshvan, 15th 


2d October. 


[Bui,] 




17th 


1st Marcheshvan, 18th 




Bui; 




1st Cisleu, 


15th 


1st Noveniber. 


17th 


1st Kislev, 


17th 


1st Tebeth, 


15th 


1st December. 



CORRECTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 173 

Ecclesiastical Year. Civil Year. Julian Year. 

17th Tebeth, 1st Tebeth, 17tli December. 

IstShebat, 15th 31st 

17th 1st Shebat, 16th January. 

1st Adar, 15th 29th 

17th 1st Adar, 15th February. 

Intercalary days, 15th 1st March. 

With the aid of this calendar it is possible now, to 
determine to the very day all dates in the New and 
Old Testament, and the days of the Hebrew festivals, 
as far back as the Babylonian captivity. The leap- 
years of the Hebrews were the same as the Grecian. 
Besides, this calendar is in perfect conformity with 
the ancient Arabian. 



XXII. THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 
EE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 

For a long series of years it has been very gene- 
rally believed and taught in a thousand books, that 
Christ did not appear in the sixth millenium of the 
world ; had not been announced, or born, or baptized, 
or crucified, or raised from the dead, in the years or 
days foretold by the Prophets, testified by the Evan- 
gelists and believed by the primitive Christian 
Churches. All these formerly received ejDochs of 
the New Testament have been transferred to another 
millenium, to other years and days ; and for what 
purpose?— In order to reduce the New Testament to 
a " Myth." 



174 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

We are to consider Christianity under three dis- 
tinct aspects, the historical, the dogmatical and the 
ethical. Historical Christianity forms the basis of 
Christian faith and Christian love. For, suppose it 
were true that the Prophets, the Apostles and their 
disciples, the early Church-Fathers, were mistaken 
respecting the historical ground-work of the New 
Testament, that, for instance, Christ was born 1500 
years before the time foretold by the prophets; then, 
of course, not the slightest credence would be due to 
them in respect of all other matters ; and therefore 
the structure of the Christian Church would, sooner 
or later, have to crumble into ruin. This the enemy 
had already perceived ; and therefore he began with. 
undermining the basis of the Christian Church, his- 
torical Christianity. Let us be thankful to God that, 
by means of the new historical and mathematical 
aids, which have been specified, we are now enabled 
to demonstrate the correctness of the dates, both as 
to years and days, of all the New Testament epochs, 
without exception, which have been transmitted to 
us by the Church.^ 

Everybody knows that the Christian era begins 
with the first of January next following the birth of 
Christ; that is, with the year which the astronomers 
designate with nought. If from the 1st of January 



* Chronologia Sacra. Untersuchungen iiber das Geburtsjahr des 
Herrn und die Zeitrechnung des Alten und Neuen Testaments ; Leipz. 
1846. Berichtigungen der alten Geschichte und Zeitrechnung; Leipz. 
1855. 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 175 

of the current year 1856^we count back 1856 entire 
years, we arrive at what has just been stated to be 
the beginning of the Christian era. This is the or- 
der fixed by Dionysius Exiguus (625 A. C), the 
originator of our era, or method of computing 
time since the birth of Christ ; for his calculations 
of the Easter-full-moons for the entire Christian era 
are still extant. Dionysius places the first Easter- 
festival after the birth of Christ in the year nought.* 
It is, indeed, the opinion of many that according to 
Dionysius, the current year is the 1857th, and not 
the 1858th ; but they have forgotten the Easter-canon 
of Dionysius, and neglected to consider that all the 
eras of the Ancients began with a year nought, and 
had, of necessity, to begin in this way, in order that 
no ambiguities might arise. The same is true of the 
Olympiads and the Era^Saobis conditse, as astronomi- 
cal facts which were copied by Dionysius have demon- 
strated. In like manner the first hour after noon 
begins at the moment when the clock strikes twelve ; 
but it does not strike one until sixty minutes after 
noon, when the first hour after noon ends and the 
second hour commences. According to this ancient 
chronology our watchmakers put the 1 at the end of 
the first hour, as Dionysius put the 1 at the end of 
the first year of his Era. The present, or current 
century began, therefore, not on the first of January 
1801, but on the same day 1800. And now let us 

* Ideler, Chronologie, Vol. II., p. 372. 292. 



176 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

inquire, whether the New Testament is really 
« a fable." 

The first point that is fully confirmed, is, that Christ 
came into the world in that century, which is foresha- 
dowed by the six days of creation,* and foretold by the 
prophets Daniel 2, 81., Isaiah 2, 2., and Habakkuk 8, 2. 
For "the midst of the years," the "last days" was ac- 
cording to all the ancient nations, the middle of a 
period of 12000 years ; whence also the Greeks and 
Romans expected the Redeemer of the world at the 
time of Augustus.! Now, as all the astronomical tradi- 
tions of antiquity and especially the true chronology 
of the Old Testament place the Creation in the year 
5871 B. C, Christ really came into the world " in the 
fullness of time," in the sixth year-thousand after 
Adam. The Jews, therefore, have no authority what- 

* D. Ambrosii 0pp. Bas. 1567. III. 140 : Sex itaque diebus factum 
mundum exprimit (Moses) non quod Deus tempore indiguerit ad consti- 
tutionem ejus, cui intra momentum suppedit facere quaevelit (dixit 
enim et facta sunt), sed quia ea, quae fiunt, ordinem quaerunt. — Heb- 
domas Vet. Testamenti, octava Novi, quando Christus resurrexit et 
dies omnibus novae salutis illuxit (6000 years elapsed from Adam 
till Christ.) — Ubi hominem fecit Deus, requievit ab omnibus operibus 
suis in die septima. — Ibid. V. 93 : Mills anni in conspectu Domini, 
tamquam dies una (Ps. 89.) — Malumus, sex dies per symbolum dici, 
quod sex diebus mundi opera sunt creata. — Et ideo mundi temporibus 
impletis, resurrectio futura monstratur. — Abulfeda, Histor. ed Fleischer, 
Lips. 1831, p. 7: Quum Pentateuchus aliique eorum libri Messiam ex- 
trcma mundi cEtate adventurum esse promitterent, Messiam autem re- 
vera in sexta mundi chiliade advenerit, etc. 

t Zendavesta, Bundehesch xxxiv. 119. ; I. 59. Hamza of Ispahan, 
Zendavesta, III. 62. Suidas at Tyrrhenia, Virgil's Eel. IV. Hora- 
tius Carmen saecul. 4. 21. Od. I. 2. 30. Plato in Phil. 66. Euseb. 
P. E. xiii. 12. 668. Sueton Vesp. c. 4. Tacit. Hist. v. ]3. See 
my Chronologia Sacra, p. 104. 154. 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 177 

ever for still looking for tlie Messiah, as they do since 
the destruction of Jerusalem, in consequence of those 
two thousand years now wanting in the Hebrew text. 

Eurthermore, Christ was born, as is stated by Luke, 
in a census-year. A census of this kind was, at the 
time of Augustus, taken every seven years, for in- 
stance 69, and 27, and 20 and 9 B. C, 6 A. C, 
and 15 A. C.^ Now since the years of Augus- 
tus move down, as we have seen, two years; one 
census mentioned by the historians, occurred in the 
year 9 B. C, another in the year 6 A. C. Hence it 
follows that also in the year preceding our era, such 
a census was taken, although it is not mentioned by 
any of the Boman authors that have come down to 
us. Christ was, therefore, really born during the first 
census of Quirinus, as the New Testament relates. 

Herod is known to have died three months after 
the birth of Christ, and, according to the account of 
Josephus, two months after an eclipse of the moon.f 
Now since the years of his reign, which were linked 
to those of Augustus, are likewise brought nearer to 
us by two years, and since the lunar-eclipse in ques- 
tion can have taken place only on the 9th of January 
of the said year nought, therefore, Christ must have 
been born shortly before the commencement of 
our era, which begins, as we have seen, with the year 
nought. 

'" See Chron. S. p. 9. 248. 85; and the Ancyron Marbles, written by 
Augustus himself. 

t Chronologia S. p. 82. 292. 



178 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

From Josephus (Ant. II. 9, 2. and 7.), and from the 
Rabbinical commentaries of Abarbanel, Elieser, and 
others, on Numbers c. 24, v. 15, it appears, that three 
years and some months before the birth of Moses a 
remarkable conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the 
sign of Pisces had taken place, which really did oc- 
cur in the year 1951 B. C, and that a similar con- 
junction was to occur three entire years previous to 
the birth of the Messiah.^ In fact, such a conjunc- 
tion did take place in the fourth year prior to the com- 
mencement of the Dionysian era. The eastern Magi, 
who were acquainted with this prediction of Baloam, 
came, of course, to Herod three years after that con- 
junction, i. e. shortly before the commencement of 
the year nought, and found the child at Bethlehem; 
whence it is again manifest that Christ was born 
shortly before the said commencement of our era. 

Eusebius, Tertullian and others place the birth of 
Christ in the same year of Augustus. And thus the 
prophecy of Daniel c. 9, v. 21. has been fulfilled in 
every particular. For, according to that remarkable 
prediction of the greatest of all prophets, quoted by 
Christ himself, Matt. 24, 15. ; John 5, 39 , the Saviour 
of mankind was to come in the world in the year 532 
after the Babylonian captivity, which terminated 
in the first year of the reign of Cyrus 534 B. C. For, 
it must be born in mind that Daniel distinctly spe- 
fies in the Hebrew text seven years and sixty-two 



t Chonologia Sacra, p. 90. 
i 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 179 

years; and that he reckons his weeks by years of six, 
twelve and twenty-four months, in conformity with 
the custom of his time, according to which the term 
month was applied indifferently to intervals of fif- 
teen, thirty and sixty days.^ Daniel's weeks of years, 
are periods of seven years computed in accordance 
with ^his manner of employing the term month. 
This is made evident even by the words, that " Christ 
was to die in the middle of a week," and yet " con- 
firm the convenant with many, for one entire week." * 
For, one week could not be equal to half a week of 
three years and six months, had Daniel not taken in 
the first place months of fifteen days and in the 
second ordinary months of thirty days. Besides, 
Daniel says, that Christ was to die sixty years and 
two years after the end' of the Babylonian captivity, 
which would make nonsense, if we reckongd accord- 
ing to years equal in both cases. For nobody dies 
before his birth. Consequently, those sixty years 
and two years, as we shall see, must also contain 
different years composed of different months of fif- 
teen, thirty and sixty days. This subject has been 
treated more in extenso in my Chronologia Sacra 
p. 107. All the former explanations of Daniel's . 
seventy weeks must prove abortive, because the in- 
terpreters thought Daniel's different weeks to be of 
the same length. Besides, they omitted to explain 
the sixty weeks and two weeks intervening between 
Christ's death and Cyrus; and finally they forgot 

* See Ideler, Chronology, Vol. I. p. 93. 



180 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 



that Daniel's reckoning begins, as he expressly says, 
with the end of the Babylonian captivity, in the year 
534 B. C. Daniel, therefore, reckons from the first 
year of the reign of Cyrus (534 B. C.) to the birth of 
our Lord seven weeks of years consisting of years of 
twenty-four months each, in other words ninety-eight 
ordinary years; and then again sixty-two additional 
prophetic weeks, composed of years of twelve months 
each, in other words 434 years, which added together 
give us the sum of 532 years. Now, since Christ was 
born shortly before the commencement of the Dio- 
nysian era, he really came into the world 532 after 
the Babylonian captivity, as Daniel predicted 534 
years before. 

The birth-day of Christ, which is the day of 
the winter-solstice, or our 22d of December, is 
determined in the first place by the testimony of 
the Gnostics. For, these heathen-Christians existed 
already before Christ, were waiting for the birth of 
the Saviour, and have left us a multitude of monu- 
ments, some very ancient, others more recent, accord- 
ing to which Christ was born on the day of the win- 
ter-solstice. Clemens Alexandrinus together with 
the oldest and most credible Fathers of the Church, 
gives his testimony in favor of the same day. The 
Constitutiones Apostolorum L. V., c. 13 , moreover, 
assign the Saviour's birth to the 2oth of December, 
which, according to the old Julian style, was the day 
of the winter-solstice. To this must be added the 
evidence afibrded by the chronograph, preserved in 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 181 

the works of Cardinal Noris, according to which 
Christ was born on the day of the full-moon ; and 
the 22d of December of the year preceding the said 
commencement of our era was actually the day of a 
full-moon and a Sunday. The words of John the 
Baptist : " He must increase, but I must decrease " 
serve to prove, as is affirmed by the Fathers of the 
Church, that John was born on the longest day of the 
year, and Christ, who was six months younger, on the 
shortest, i. e. again on the 22d of December. — The 
same thing is proved by the sacerdotal class of Abia 
at the annunciation of John the Baptist. For in the 
year 538 B. C. the Jews returned to Jerusalem, and 
on Saturday the 25th September, upon the occasion 
of the dedication of the new altar of sacrifice, by 
Zerubbabel, the twenty-four classes of j^riests resumed 
once more their weekly turns of official duty (Esra 6, 
18., 1 Esd. 7, 5.), which continued until the destruction 
of the temple, seventy-one years after Christ. Now 
it was in the year 2 before the commencement of our 
era, on Saturday the 22d of September, that this 
8th sacerdotal class Abia, to which Zacharias be- 
longed, left the temple, after the birth of John the 
Baptist had been announced to him. Consequently 
John was really born on the 22d of June, and Christ, 
as he was six months younger, on the 22d of Decem- 
ber. Thus has the prophecy of Haggai c. 2y v. 6. 7. 
18. been literally fulfilled. For, the 24th day of the 
9th month, to which the Prophet points us, was, at that 
time, the day of the winter-solstice. It was on the 



182 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

same day that tlie dedications of the temple by Heze- 
kiah and Judas Maccabeeus were typically performed. 

The baptism of Christ and the beginning of his 
prophetic ministry are first of all determined by the 
testimony of St. Luke. For, since the fifteenth year 
of Tiberius, in which the Baptist entered upon his 
prophetic ministry, is by our present calculation 
brought down two years later, Christ must have been 
baptized in the 29th year after the commencement of 
our era " at an age of nearly ((baei) thirty ;" to enter, 
forty days, later, upon his prophetic office. On the 
same day, the 22d df December, Christ was thirty 
years of age ; and as Christ, was, as he says, " born 
under the law," and consequently obliged to enter the 
priestly office on the first day of the 31st year ',* he 
must have commenced his public ministry on the 22d 
of December A. D. 29, and recei-ved his baptism on 
the 13th of November. Epiphanius sj^ecifies the 8th 
of November, simply because, on account of the shift- 
ing of the five 'EnayofievaL (the intercalary days), his 
8th of November corresponds with our thirteenth. 

The Evangelists report, still farther, that Christ 
entered upon the duties of his prophetic ministry 
forty-six years after the erection of Herod's temple 
(John 2, 13). As the 18th year of Herod's reigo, in 
which he laid the foundation of the temple, on the 
22d of March,! is now brought down two years later ; 

- * 1. Chroii. 23, 24. 23, 3. Num. 4, 3. See Chronologia Sacra, 
p. 92. 

t Joseph. Ant. XV. 11, 1. 5. 6. See Chronologia Sacra, p. 74, 100. 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 183 

it again appears that Christ must have commenced 
his public ministry 29 A. D. 

The three years and seven months of our Lord's 
prophetic ministry are indicated with sufficient clear- 
ness in the parables concerning the fig-tree, (Luke 13, 
6.) and the vine-dresser, (Luke 20, 9.; Mark 12, 9.) and 
by the four feasts of the passover, mentioned by St. 
John (John 2,13; 5, 1; 6,4; 19, 14.) This period is 
marked still more distinctly in the Apocalypse by 
42 months, or 1260 days ; for, as the Hebrews always 
calculated by solar-months of thirty days, that state- 
ment will give us exactly three years and six months. 
Thus then the prophecy of DanieL according to which 
Christ " was to confirm the covenant with many for 
one week," was literally fulfilled ; for exactly three 
years and six months, that is 42 months, or 1260 days 
elapsed from the baptism of Christ to the effusion of 
the Holy Spirit, on the first Christian feast of Pente- 
cost. This prophetic week of Daniel, was, as we have 
already shown, composed of months of fifteen days, 
consequently of years of six solar months, of which 
seven make exactly three years and six months of our 
ordinary years. Dr. Luther has already given the 
exact explanation of Daniel's half week in his works 
Vol. YII. p. 1448. ed. Walch. 

The year of the death of Christ, A.D. 33, is in the 
first place, determined by the years of his priestly 
office, and of his birth. For, since our Lord was bap- 
tized in the 15th year of Tiberius (29 A, C.) " at the 
age of nearly thirty," and then preached the Gospel 



184 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

during three and a half years afterwards, he must 
have died A. D. 33, and in the 18th year of the reign 
of Tiberius. The same year of Tiberius is named as 
that of the death of Christ by the Martyrologium 
Pauli, by Eusebius, Epiphanius, Prosper, Malala, by the 
Chronicon Paschale and others.^ And thus has the pro- 
phecy of Daniel again been fulfilled. Eor he reckon- 
ed from the end of the Babylonian captivity (534 
B. C.) to the year in which Christ " shall be cut off 
and not be," according to the Hebrew text, an interval 
of twenty weeks of fourteen years each (i. e. 280 
years), forty weeks of seven years each (i. e. again 
280 years) and two weeks of three and a half years 
each (i. e. seven years), in all 567 years, he has con- 
sequently placed the death of Christ in the year 
A. D. 33. 

. It is well known, that the death of our Lord 
took place on the 14th of the month Nisan, on the 
day before the feast of the passover, which was 
called " the preparation, Parasceue." For in Exod. 
12, 6; Lev. 23, 5; Num. 9, 3. we read: «Ye shall 
keep the lamb up until the fourteenth day of the 
same month (Nisan), and the whole congregation 
of Israel shall kill it in the evening {ien haar- 
haim.) And they shall eat the flesh in that night." 
— Lev. 23, 5 : "In the fourteenth day of the first 
month (Nisan) at even is the Lord's passover. And 
(the following day) of the fifteenth day of the same 

t See Chonologia Sacra, p. 116. 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 185 

month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the 
Lord."~Deut. 16, 6: "Thou shalt sacrifice (kill) 
the passover at even (baareb), at the going down 
(kebo) of the sun (Conf. Ex. 29, 29)." Every He- 
brew day began with sunset, and the evening, the 
first part of every day, extended from sunset to 
sunrise (Gen. 1, 5.) As then the lamb was to be 
kept up until the fourteenth, and killed after sun- 
set, or hen haarbaim^ i. e. at six in the evening, at 
the end of the natural evening, and at the begin- 
ning of the civil evening; and as it was eaten in 
that night, on that even of the fourteenth day, while 
on the fifteenth of Nisan, twenty-four hours later, the 
feast of Easter began, Christ, of course, being born 
under the law, was obliged to eat the lamb after 
six o'clock during the evening of the 14th Nisan. 
And so he actually did. He was condemned on the 
14th of Nisan. Eor the Talmud says: "There is 
no judgment on the 15th of Msan.'^ And the 
Evangelists testify, that the corpses were taken 
from the cross, lest they should remain hanging 
during the passover, the loth of Nisan, which was 
a high Sabbath." ^hdX pascha phagein (John 18, 28) 
explains itself. Eor in the time of the passover, 
as Josephus relates, two millions of Jews, who re- 
quired at least 50,000 lambs, were resident at Jeru- 
salem. As it was impossible to kill them all in 
the temple before the morning; many Jews were 
prevented from eating the lamb before Christ's 
condemnation. Besides, all the ancient Christian 



186 THE fflSTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

Cliiirches, particulaTly the Quartadecimani put 
Christ's death on the fourteenth day of the month 
Nisan. The name of the Quartadecimani, i. e. 
Christians who celebrated Christ's death always on 
the fourteenth of Nisan, originated from this eccle- 
siastical usage. 

• The Paraseue (14th Nisan) always corresponded, 
as we have already seen, with the 19th of the 
Julian March. It was on these same days of 
March, that the earliest Christian Churches, those 
which were founded by the Apostles themselves, 
always observed the festival of Easter, and more 
particularly the Quartadecimani, the Cappadocians, 
the Gauls, and others ; all place the death of 
Christ, the Passio, by which they meant the whole 
space of time intervening between the crucifixion 
and the resurrection, upon the 19th, 20th, 21st and 
22d of March. The solar eclipse of Dionysius 
Areopagita confirms that as the day of Christ's 
death with mathematical certainty. While travel- 
ling in Egypt and Ethiopia, this author was wit- 
ness of an eclipse of the sun, at the sight of 
which he exclaimed : " Now the Lord is sufiering 
something." This solar eclipse on the 14th of 
Nisan, i. e. on the 19th of March, could have taken 
place only in the year 83 after Christ ; it occurred 
at two o'clock in the afternoon, consequently during 
the very same hours, in which Christ expired on 
the cross. It was, however, not at all visible in 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 187 

Palestine."^ Christ died, therefore, precisely on the 
same day on which the paschal-lamb had been 
typically slain in Egypt ; that is to say, three days 
before the vernal equinox. 

The resurrection of Christ took place, as we all 
know, on the . following Sunday, which, in the year 
83 A. C, was on the 22 d of March, the day of the 
vernal equinox. This fact is already attested by 
Augustine, (De Trin. IV. 5; CD. XVIII. 54); for 
he says, that Christ's death, or passion, occurred on 
the very day on which the annunciation to Mary 
had taken place. The Constitutiones Apostolorum 
also refer this annunciation to the day of the ver- 
nal equinox, and at the same time to " a Sunday."f 
Kow, this day of the vernal equinox occurred upon 
a Sunday only in the year preceding the com- 
mencement of our era ; from which it is again 
manifest, that the birth of Christ occurred on the 
22d of December. The resurrection, therefore, took 
place on the very day that had already been typi- 
cally sanctified by the exody from Egypt, by the 
founding of the temples of Solomon and Herod, 
and by the dedication of Zerubbabel's temple.if In 
like manner the dedication of the Ark of the 
covenant, the entry into the promised land, and the 
dedication of the temple of Solomon, and the Altar 
of Zerubbabel, had been fixed upon the day on 

* See the calculation of this eclipse in my Chronologia Sac, p. 285. 
t Cotelerii Opera Patrum. Vol. I., Lib. V. c. 13. 
t Chronologia Sacra, p. 30. 71. 



188 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

which the birth of John the Baptist was announced, 
which was the 22d of September, the day of the 
autumnal equinox. Finally, Christ, the second 
Adam, rose from the dead on the very day on 
which, as we have already shown, the Almighty 
had completed the work of creation. And thus the 
prophecy of Daniel has likewise been fulfilled, that 
Christ was to " confirm the covenant with many for 
one week," and to be " cut ofi" in the midst of the 
week. For as the Hebrew year commenced on 
the day of the autumnal equinox, the middle of 
the prophetic week must have been the day of the 
vernal equinox, i. e. the 22d March. 

Besides, since Christ died on the 19th of March 
and rose again on Sunday the 22d of March, he must 
have remained in the grave three days and three 
nights ; for this 19th March, A. D. 33, was a Thurs- 
day.* This is evident already from the testimony of 
the Evangelists. They make minute mention of all 
the events of the sacred week, and expressly refer 
Christ's death to Thursday, to the fourth day after 
Palm-Sunday, the third before the resurrection. Thus 
then, the typical death of Jonah, which our Saviour 
expressly referred to himself, found here its perfect 
antitype. Christ was really, like Jonah, in the 
" heart of the earth for three days and three nights." 
Formerly, it was, indeed, a general opinion, that our 
Lord died on a Friday ; this is, however, contradicted 

* A Table for calculating all da3's of the week from 6000 B. C. to 
2000 A. C. is given in my Chronologia Sacra, p. 241. 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 189 

by the Evangelists ; the opinion had its origin in the 
oldest Christian communions, which solemnly devoted 
Friday to mourning and fasting, because it began im- 
mediately after, or during the inhumation of Christ's 
body; as has been demonstrated in other places.* 
This chronology, however, requires that particular 
attention should be given to the Greek words Sabba- 
ton and Sabbatci^ which are treated as synonymous 
terms in the English translation of the New Testa- 
ment, for Sahhaton signified every extraordinary 
holiday, while Sabhata expressed the Saturday of 
every week. Thus, then, Christ died on the PrO' 
sahhaton^ or Parasceue, the day before Easter, and not 
on the day before the Saturday (Prosabbata). The 
following day was the Sabbaton^ Easterday ; the next 
was the Sdblata, our Saturday ; the following Mia 
Sabhaton, the Sunday, on which the resurrection took 
place. Therefore, the succession of events during 
the holy week was the following: — 

14th March, 9th Nisan, Saturday ; Christ, " six days 
before Easter," in Bethany. John 12, 1. 

15th March, 10th Nisan, Sunday: Christ's entry 
into Jerusalem. Matt. 21, 8. Mark 11, 12. Luke 
. 19,45. John 12, 1. 

16th March, 11th Nisan, Monday: Christ again in 
Jerusalem. Matt. 21, 18. Mark 11, 12. 

17th March, 12th Nisan, Tuesday: The fig- tree 
withered away. Matt. 21, 20. 

18th March, 13th Nisan, Wednesday: "after two 

* Chron. S. p. 128. Lutherische Herold, New- York, Jime 15, 1856. 



190 THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

days is the feast of the passover." Matt. 26, 2. 
Mark 14, 1. 

Six o'clock, P.M.: the lambs are being slaugh- 
tered. Ex. 12, 6. Lev. 23, 5. Deut. 16, 6 
14:th Nisan (Thursday), which begins during our 
18th March with sunset. Gen. 1, 15. Christ 
and the twelve sit down and eat. Matt. 26, 26. 
Mark 14, 22. Luke 22, 17. John 13, 1. 
19th March, 14th Nisan, Thursday, midnight : Christ 
goes over- the brook Cedron. John 18, 1. Judas 
betrays Jesus. Matt. 26, 48. Mark 14, 44. 
Luke 22, 47. 

Christ arraigned before Hannas and afterwards 
before Caiphas. John 18, 12. Matt. 26, 57. 
Mark 14, 53. 

Six o'clock, A. M. : Christ arraigned before the 
Synedrium. Luke 22, 66. 

Pilate examines Christ. Matt. 27, 1. Mark 15,1. 
Luke 23, 1. John 18, 28. 

Christ conducted to Golgatha. Matt. 27, 32. 
Mark 15, 20. John 19, 16. 

Ninth hour, A. M. : Christ crucified. Matt. 27, 
35. Mark 15, 24. Luke 23, 33. John 19, 18. 

Noon : Darkness and earthquake. Matt. 27, 45. 
Mark 15, S3. Luke 23, 44. 

Third hour, P. M. : Christ yields up the ghost. 
Matt. 27, 50. Mark 15, 37. Luke 23, 45. 

Sunset, the 15th Nisan (Friday): Christ in the 
tomb. Matt. 27, 59. Mark 15, 46. Luke 23, 53. 
John 19, 40. 



RE-ESTABLISHED BY MATHEMATICAL FACTS. 191 

Easter-day begins, the Salhaton. John 19, 42. 
20 th March, loth Nisan, Friday, Sabbaton: The 
women rest during the Sabbath-day, according to 
the commandment. Luke 23, 56. 

Sunset, 16th Nisan, (Saturday): the Sabbata 
begins. Mark 16, 1. 2. 
21st March, 16th Nisan, Saturday, Sabbata : Christ 
still in the tomb. Luke 24, 1. Matt. 27, 62. 

Sunset, 17th Nisan, Mia Sabbaton (Sunday) 
begins ; The women prepare spices and oint- 
ments. Matt. 16, 1. Luke 23, 56. 
22d March, 17th Nisan, Sunday, the day of the ver- 
nal equinox, on which the week of creation ex- 
pired. Philo de Septen. p. 1178. 

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come to the 
grave. Matt. 28,1. Mark 16,1. Luke 24,1. John 20,1. 
' Sunrise : Christ risen from the dead, after three 

days and three nights. Matt. 12, 40. 

Such, then, are some of the fruits, which the antiqui- 
ties of Egypt, preserved to us by Providence, have 
borne to us ; of that Egypt, out of which God designed 
" to call his Son.'' We have here a mathematically 
accurate confirmation of the entire Old and New 
Testament, a thorough and complete rectification of 
the Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Roman his- 
tories and chronologies down to Titus. And who can 
determine, beforehand, what advantage may yet, in 
time to come, accrue from this source to the Chris- 
tian Church ! 



192 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND THE CUNEIFORM 



XXIII. THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND THE CU- 
NEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS, PARTICULARLY AT 
ST. LOUIS. 

Among all the historic discoveries of modern times, 
none has awakened a more universal interest than 
that of the ruins of Nineveh; and, certainly, there is 
good reason for this. For, this immense city of the 
ancient world, destroyed, according to " Layard's Ni- 
neveh," in 626 B. C, is mentioned repeatedly in the 
Bible; its destruction was foretold by the Prophets; 
it exerted a most important influence upon the aflairs 
of the Hebrew nation. And then again, the antiqui- 
ties discovered in the ruins of Nineveh are far more 
remarkable than could have been expected. Al- 
though but few of those archaeological mounds have 
yet been excavated, the marble sculptures found in 
them, have, to say nothing of those which have been 
destroyed or sunk in the ocean, already formed entire 
Museums in London and Paris. The artistic value of 
those is so great, that no beholder can leave them 
without admiration ; as works of art they come very 
near those of the most flourishing periods of Greece 
and Italy. But these Museums leave behind one pain- 
ful impression, from the consideration that these anti- 
quities could not be preserved in their original connec- 
tion. Those Assyrian regal halls were not designed to 
preserve mere works of art ; on the contrary, these sculp- 
tures expressed in their connection a definite meaning. 



INSCRIPTIONS, PARTICULARLY AT ST. LOUIS. 193 

The same fate has befallen the Etrurian vases and 
other vessels. The Etrurians were wont to place in 
their tombs a number of vases in a circular arrange- 
ment, in order, by their relative positions, to express 
important facts. Whenever such a tomb was dis- 
covered, the order of these vessels was immediately 
broken up; and thus has archa3ological vandalism 
for ever destroyed the higher scientific meaning 
which was expressed by the pictures upon the sepa- 
rate vessels, arranged in this proper order and con- 
nection. The same remarks apply to the Assyrian 
antiquities. Thus we find a large marble-slab at St. 
Louis, brought from Nimrud, and representing one 
of the twelve signs of the Zodiac, while others re- 
mained in Nineveh, or stand in the British Museum. 
But the ruins of Nineveh acquire additional im- 
portance from the fact, that they preserved entire 
libraries in stone, which serve for the elucidation ot 
the Sacred Scriptures, and will throw light upon 
countries and ages, concerning which we now know 
scarcely any thing, and which seemed to be enveloped 
in perpetual night. These cuneiform inscriptions 
will all, some day, be translated; the way is already 
prepared for the attainment of this result. In my 
Alphabeta Genuina I showed as early as 1840, that 
the thirty-six groups of the so-called Persian cunei- 
form character, correspond with the thirty-six letters 
of the modern Persians, and that the first twenty-four 
of these groups coincide with the Noachian alpha- 
9 



194 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND THE CUNEIFORM 

bet;* that now nearly two hundred groups of the 
Median cuneiform character express the same letters 
in combination with different vowels; all which was 
confirmed four years afterwards by Westergoord;f 
and that the Assyrian cuneiform groups very often 
denote, as among the Egyptians and the Chinese, 
syllabic combinations of consonants with other con- 
sonants. Although my alphabet was still incomplete, 
Rawlinson translated, with the aid of it, entire in- 
scriptions. The written monuments of Nineveh will 
therefore, in the course of time, constitute a distinct 
branch of ancient literature. Surely, then, the bring- 
ing to light again of the ruins of Nineveh with their 
countless works of art and their inscriptions, must be 
numbered among the most important historical dis- 
coveries of our century. 

Doubts have, however, been expressed, as to 
whether those palaces, dug up on the banks of the 
Tigris, near Mosul, really belonged to ancient Nineveh, 
and whether those ruins are actually to be referred 
to a date as early as 626 B. C. — Now it is a remark- 
able fact, that at the bottom of those heaps of ruined 
structures, many Egyptian antiquities have been 
found, among which a splendid ivory table, with the 
name of a well known Egyptian king inscribed upon 

■■^ Alphabeta genuina u$]gyptiorum and Asianorum Uteris Persarum, 
Medorum, Assyriorumque cuneoformibus, Zendicis, Pehlvicis, Indicis 
subjecta, cet , Lips. 1840. 

t Westergoord, On the deciphering of the second Achsemenian, or 
Median species of arrow-headed writing. See Memoires de la Society 
dcs Antiquaires du Nord. Copenhag. 1844. 



INSCRlPnONS, PARTICULARLY AT ST. LOUIS. 195 

it, makes it impossible any longer to doubt that 
those royal palaces on the Tigris were destroyed, not 
in the year 626 B. C, by Nabopolassar, the father of 
Nebucadnezzar, but at a much later period. To prove 
this^ we refer to " Layard's Nineveh," where the read- 
er will find (VoL II. p. 208,) an accurate copy of 
that table, now in the British Museum; and the royal 
cartouche, represented upon it, expresses, by its seven 
hieroglyphics, the following letters: AHB-N-HR-P 

^^^T^l^i^- ^^* ^^ *^^6S6 letters Mr Birch con- 
trived, as is shown by Layard on the specified page, 
to conjure up, according to Chainpollion''s system, a 
king Aubnura, or Auvnura. Although, according to 
Manetho, Eratosthenes, Syncellus and others, no such 
king ever reigned in Egypt, Birch, nevertheless, con- 
ceived that he might have belonged to the XXII. 
Dynasty (950. B. C), or, perchance, to the XVIII. Dy- 
nasty (1900 B. C), or even to the Dynasty of the 
Ilyksos, to the Israelites, or Abrahamidas in the XVI. 
and XVII. Dynasty (2400 B. C.) With the aid of my 
grammar, however, we obtain the name which, in the 
Bible, is written Hophra, Hephre, and by Herodotus 
Hapries, Apries. This name is, in fact, composed of 
the Coptic roots ahaj),, hop^ to love, and hra^ ra^ sun, 
with the sign of the genitive case ^, and the article ji?. 
— It is well known, that the article ^, and the sign of 
the genitive case /^, were often omitted, so that, for 
instance, the Egyptian king Shischank, Sisonchosis, 
is in the Bible and on Egyptian monuments, simply 
called Shishak. Those hieroglyphics, therefore give 



196 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND THE CUNEIFORM 

US the name: Ahab-Hra, abbreviated into Hop-Ra, 
the Biblical Hophra, i. e. the favorite of the Sun-god. 
Such names and combinations occurred very fre- 
quently among the Egyptians. — Thus the owner, al- 
ready mentioned, of the book of the Dead at Turin, 
and of his signet-stone in Dr. Abbott's Museum, was 
called : Ahap-Anuke, i. e. the favorite of the goddess 
Anuke + -'^^ ^ fj. For this name is also composed 
of the root aJiop^ hoj), to love, and the name Anuke, 
which goddess, herself represented on Layard's 
Hophra-table, is written with the ansated cross y, 
expressing syllabically the letters ANK. 

Now, it is well known, that king Hophra, Hapries, 
reigned at the time when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed 
Jerusalem, in 585 B. C, and that he afforded the 
fugitive Jews an asylum in Egypt. And this gives 
us a clue to the manner in which those Egyptian 
antiquities found their way to Nineveh. 

After the destruction of Jerusalem Nebuchad- 
nezzar marched against Tyre, and thence against 
Hophra, because he had assisted the Jews. After 
conquering Egypt and dethroning Hophra, he re- 
turned from Egypt, as Josephus relates, with the 
trophies gathered during this campaign. Hence it 
now follows, that the ruins exhumed by Layard and 
others do not belong to the time of Nebuchad- 
nezzar's father, 626 B. C , because they contained in- 
scriptions much more recent. 

These researches have been explained more ex- 
tensively in the German translation of Layard's 



INSCRIPTIONS, PARTICULARLY AT ST. LOUIS. 197 

Nineveh, Leipzig, 1855, in the Appendix (Die Mgyp' 
tischen Alterthiimer in Nimrud und das Jahr der 
Zerstorung Niniveh's.) 

In this connection I take the liberty of calling 
attention to two cuneiform inscriptions, which, the 
property of Mr. Marsh at St. Louis, are perhaps 
the greatest literary curiosity of that city, and the 
only specimens in the United States. The smaller 
one, of hard marble, although a fragment, is remark- 
able, because it contains the most beautiful cunei- 
form letters now extant. The other inscription is 
on a burnt brick, nearly twenty inches by twenty, 
and four inches thick, and was found in that same 
ancient city of Nineveh. An exact copy of the in- 
scription is given in the transactions of the Academy 
of Science of St. Louis, 1857, Plate 4. The same 
inscription, a few groups excepted, is repeated upon 
all bricks found in the Central-Palace at Nimrud, 
as the fac-simile in Layard's Nineveh, New- York, 
1849, Vol. II, p. 155, shows. 

What may be the import of the inscription of 
this brick, and to what epoch does it belong? 

There are four kinds of cuneiform inscriptions ; 
the so-called Persian, the Median, the Assyrian, and 
the Babylonian. The language, in which these in- 
scriptions speak to us, is the Old Persian, the mo- 
ther of the modern Persian, preserved in the Zend 
and Pehlevi, related to the Sanscrit, the Greek, 
Latin and Grerman, in short, to all the Japhetic 
languages. 



198 THE RUINS OF NINE\TEH AND THE CUNEIFORM 

This cuneiform character was, a long time since, 
regarded as the primitive mode of writing, earlier 
than the Phoenician, Hebrew, Greek and other al^ 
phabets. In 1840, however, I demonstrated in the 
book mentioned above, that those cuneiform letters 
of the Persians, Medes, Assyrians, and probably of 
the Babylonians also, had the Hebrew, or rather 
the Noachian alphabet for their basis. 

For, all those groups of wedges originate from 
combinations of different wedges ; and by bringing 
them, particularly the S6 Persian groups in a row 
or file, according to the law of combination, it 
appears, that these letters then follow, the one 
after the other, like the letters of our alphabet 
a, hj Cj and so on. Thus the S6 cuneiform groups 
of ^the Persians correspond with the 36 letters of 
the modern Persians. Those 200 groups of the 
Median system express the same 36 letters pro- 
nounced with different vowels. The Assyrian 
groups, of which 400 are already known, signify- 
partly those 36 single letters, partly the same com- 
bined with vowels, partly the same joined to diffe- 
rent consonants ; as was first shown in my " Alpha- 
beta Genuina," and confirmed some years ago by 
Kawlinson. My cuneiform alphabet of the Assy- 
rians, which was published sixteen years ago, is 
not at all complete ; and my cuneiform Dictionary, 
as every body will find, upon referring to my book, 
p. 124 — 138, is a very poor one. It has, nevertheless 
been considered the first key to this immense new 



INSCRIPTIONS, PARTICULARLY AT ST. LOUIS. 199 

literature. Rawlinson, in the midst of Assyrian 
antiquities, has adopted it, enlarged, and, without 
doubt, corrected it; his book, however, with his 
alphabet, Dictionary, and numerous translations of 
entire inscriptions I have not yet been able to exa- 
mine. I am happy, however, to be able to give 
some information concerning this Assyrian inscrip- 
tion, which, after many hundred years, has made 
its way from old Nineveh to St. Louis, through the 
instrumentality of an American missionary at Mosul. 
The cuneiform groups of the brick read as fol- 
lows. IIoiiro-Muzdasay pabou pdopala^ hosdo pa- 
malho^ pdbou paopala, Jioruzpaopala dah Koshaul- 
sah, huna Kha Dhalhahosh ^ i. e. Xerxes, th^ son 
of Darius, (namely Hystaspes 518 B. C), the Lord 
of the earth, the master of the earth, has given, 
(the building in question) to Honnuzd (the Persian 
name of God), to the Lord of the earth, to the 
'king of the people. The name of Ilormuzdasa is 

written thus : j =K1 ^ ^ ? ^ '^C^^KWl 

h ail ro m ic z da sa 

This brick then is now 2300 years old; it was 
burnt in the time of Xerxes (d 463 B. C), and thus 
demonstrates, that the ruins of Nineveh, where this 
brick was dug up, or that, at least, some parts of 
Nineveh's ruins actually belong to a period 160 years 
later than the year 626 B. C, to which Layard has 
referred them. 

My deciphering, 1 confess, contains some doubt- 



200 THE EGYPTIAN AND HEBREW MEASURES OF CAPACITY 

ful letters ; but the proper names and many other 
words are certain, as similar inscriptions prove. 
Nobody can give more than he has to give. 

XXIV. THE EGYPTIAN AND HEBREW MEA- 
SURES OF CAPACITY EXPLAINED BY EGYP- 
TIAN MONUMENTS IN DR. ABBOTT'S MUSEUM. 

Among the most remarkable curiosities of Dr. 
Abbott's Museum are two vessels, on which their 
measure of capacity is indicated. It is known that 
at the time of their departure from Egypt, the He- 
brews carried with them the Egyptian weights and 
measures, and retained these in use, until the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem by Titus. All the names of these 
weights and measures are known to us from ancient 
Egyptian, Coptic, Hebrew and Greek authorities ; but 
until a few years ago no man was able to compare 
them with our modern measures. Attempts have 
been made to determine the weights of the Hebrews, 
and consequently those of the ancient Egyptians, by 
means of the Hebrew coins of the time of the Macca- 
bees. The result, howevei", is still an. uncertain one, 
and the weights preserved in Dr. Abbott's Museum 
may perhaps help to shed some additional light upon 
the subject. Since the 'B.ve cubic-measures have been 
found in the catacombs, we are, as they give all the 
Egyptian measures of length, with their names, even 
to the sixteenth part of an inch, in possession of an 
accurate criterion for determining the Hebrew and 



EXPLAINED BY EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS, &C. 201 

Egyptian method of measuring length.* But the 
solid and liquid measures of the Hehrews and Egyp- 
tians are still wrapped in impenetrable darkness. 
Every conceivable method has been devised, in order 
to determine the capacity of the Hebrew liquid-mea- 
sures; for instance, that of the brazen sea in the 
temple of Solomon ; but the results reached are utter- 
ly unsatisfactory. Dr. Abbott's Museum is now the 
only one in the world, by means of which the subject 
in question can be settled. The carefully executed 
measure. No. 389 of the collection, contains the num- 
ber 19 ; probably, because it was capable of holding 
19 Hins, which in Egypt and Palestine was the mea- 
sure most commonly in use, and equivalent to about 
a pint of our measure. In the same manner the large 
amphora. No. 6, contains, as a friend discovered, the 
number 4, probably because its capacity was equal to 
that of 4 Egyptian amphorse. But, it will be said, 
that these are matters of trifling consequence. It is 

* Die Biblischen Maasse durch die antiken -^gyptischen Ellen in 
den Museen zu Turin, Paris und Leyden bestimmt. See my " Alpha- 
beta Genuina," p. 139. That these Egyptian cubit-measures were those 
in common use, is easily proved. In 1827 I discovered at Turin some 
large Papyri, representing the ground plans of the catacombs of Osi 
mandya and of Ramses the Great (1700 B. C), near Thebes. The 
copies of these papyri are preserved in my " Bibliotheca ^gyptiaca 
Manuscripta," Vol. VII., No. 6937, 6938, 6936. At the same time the 
papyri indicate, how many cubits and inches long, and broad, and high 
each chamber was. Now the same catacombs and chambers have been 
measured by meters, during the French Expedition in 1799 ; and by 
comparing the ancient and the modern measurements with each other, 
it was discovered, that the said cubit-measures were actually those of 
the ancient Egyptians. 



202 TUB ABRAXAS OF THE CHRISTIAN GNOSTICS 

true, they may be so ; but it is well known, that im- 
portant truths have often been brought to light by 
apparent trifles. 

XXV. THE ABRAXAS OF THE CHRISTIAN GNOS- 
TICS, PARTICULARLY THOSE IN DR. ABBOTT'S 
MUSEUM. 

In conclusion I would yet mention two signet- 
stones (Nos. 969 and 971), which were w^orn by 
Gnostic Christians. The name Abraxas, or Abrasax 
contains, as Matter (Gnosticismus 11. 30.) has first 
shown, the number S6o, according to the numerical 
value of the Greek letters, hence the number of the 
days of the year, and thus, the Lord of the year, or 
of time. The Gnostics considered Christ as the pro- 
mised Saviour of the world; but their creed contained 
an admixture of a variety of pagan superstitions ; 
and this accounts for the peculiar character of these 
Abraxas-stones. Thus Martian (450 A. C), who was 
a Gnostic, says : " Be saluted thou true image of the 
Gods and face of the Father, whose name consists of 
three letters expressing the number 608." This name 
written in Hebrew QHY and pronounced ^'et', is, indeed 
the Gnostic name of Christ Jcav, or keVj and expresses 
the number 608.^ The specimens of Abraxas-stones in 

* See my Gnindsatze der Mythologie und alten Religionsgeschichte, 
p. 27. Martian. De nupt. phil. II. 51 : Ignota vis celsa Patris 
vel prima propago — Regnum, naturae decus atque assertio divum — ul- 
tra mundanum fas est cui cernere Patrem. — Solem te Latium vocitat. 
— Te Serapim Nilus, Memphis veneratur Osirin, dissona sacra Mitram, 



THE ABRAXAS OF THE CHRISTIAN GNOSTICS. 203 

Dr. Abbott's Museum belong to the most important 
monuments of the kind; they were entirely unknown 
to Prof. Matter, and afford a good deal of new and 
important information respecting the sect of the 
Gnostics. No. 969 is remarkable from the fact, that 
it presents the image of Christ with Pagan insignia 
and holding two Phoenixes in its hand. We learn 
from the Fathers of the Church and from Miinter, 
that the Phoenix was a Christian symbol, probably 
because the Phoenix, (or Mercury) had made its 
transit over the sun in the month October, i. e. at 
the beginning of the Hebrew year, immediately after 
the birth of Christ, and also after his resurrection, and 
had thus marked the resurrection and the commence- 
ment of a new Era. 

The Abraxas No. 971 exhibits an entirely new re- 
presention of Christ, and besides, four remarkable 
inscriptions, which, although they offer many difficul- 
ties to the translator, on account of the corrupt Coptic 
and Greek terms contained in them, are yet suscep- 
tible of an appropriate rendering. Christ's image is 
a God with a lion's head, with the ansated cross in 
his right hand, a sceptre in the left and the sun-disk, 

encompassed by the snake Uraeus, on his head. 




These sj^mbols phonetically denote the Lofty One, the 



Ditemque ferumque Typhorum ; Atys pulcher item curvi et puer almi 
aratri, Amnion et arentis Lybies et Byblius Adon. — Salve vera Deum 
facies vultusque paterne, octo et sexccnlis numeris ciii htera trina con- 
format sacrum nomen, cognomen et omen. 



204 



THE ABRAXAS OF THE CHRISTIAN GNOSTICS. 



prince, the mighty one, the Lord, by their Coptic 
names.^ Underneath we find the inscription: AM- 
M^Nm, i. e. «To the Illustrious One." For Caillaud's 
mummy at Paris contains the words : IIETAMENfli'IC 
O KAI AMM^NIOC, and Amun signifies in the Coptic 
the Illustrious One.f To the right of the figure we 
find the words: i2C OTCIP MI flC OPH TO O^C HTP 
^AOH; on the other and left side: MI fiC MI QC lAP 
MICI M IE$E (i.e. Jehovah) ONOTE (i.e. <l>NOH)IAE^C 
(i. e. Eloah's), which I have thus translated : " Great 
is Osiris, greater the Sun, the light, the fire, the flame ; 
but the greatest of all is Horus (Christ), the son of 
Jehovah, the out-breathing of Eloah." ^ On the re- 
verse we read: 

KAXei MOI O EN AEONTQnOAI THN KATOIKIAN 
KEKAHP^MENOC O EN TO, APIfi CHKi2 ENIAPTME- 
NOC O ACTPAHTSN KAI BPONTflN KAI ANEMi2N 
KTPIOC O THN ENOTPANION THC EflNIOT $TCEi2C 
KEKAHPfiMENOC ANANKHN. 

"I will praise him, who possesses a dwelling at 
Leontopolis, who is surrounded by the Holy of Holies, 
the Lord of the lightnings and of thunder, of the 
storms and of the winds, to whom belongeth the 
heavenly government of everlasting nature." 

Around the circumference of the edge we perceive 
the words : CT lOTAXXC (i. e. 6 67]ybg) E[A]EOCeEN 
HKOOC GEOC MEPAAOAOaOC AE0NT0M0P0$0C O 
[EJNMOAAC {i. e. evfiaXog, or o)v fiakog) 01 (i. e. del), 

* See my Grammatica ^gyptiaca, p. 7; Alphabet No. 9. 202. 574. 
f Grundsiitze der Mythologie und der Hieroglyphensysteme, p. 268. 



THE ABRAXAS OF THE CHRISTIAN GNOSTICS. 205 

"Tliou art the guide that came from the siin, the 
God of glory, lion-shaped, illustrious to all eternity."*' 

The Jews had a temple at Leontopolis in Egypt, 
which was constructed after the model of Solomon's 
temple at Jerusalem and destroyed in the same year 
with that of Herod, in A.D. 71. Now, as our Abraxas 
alludes to the resurrection of Christ and the temple 
in question as still existing, it must be referred to the 
time between the resurrection of Christ 38 A. C. and 
the destruction of Herod's temple, 71 years A. C. 

* We regret that we are not enabled to produce a very perfect re- 
presentation of the inscription, on account of our not having the Old 
Coptic Capital characters. — The Printer. 



APPENDIX. 



The most important Events of Biblical, Egyptian, Assyrian, Median, PeV' 
sian, Greek and Roman history down to 130 A. D., chronologically 
arranged on the basis of new historical and mathematical discoveries. 

Petavius' Chronological Tables of ancifnt history, Paris, 1627, which 
have been repeated, unexamined, in good faith, in Clinton's Fasti Hel- 
lenici and Romani, Fischer's Griechisehe und Romische Zeittafeln, and 
in a thousand modern works on history, contain not a single correct 
date prior to the year 80 A. C., as the new historical and mathemati- 
cal discoveries mentioned above demonstrate. There being no correct 
history without correct chronology, I have not shunned. the trouble of 
preparing new Chronological Tables of the entire ancient history down 
to 400 A. C, together with a commentary on them, of which the fol- 
lowing is a short abstract. The following are the principal mistakes 
made by Petavius in his chronology. 

1. As regards Biblical History, he has adopted as the basis, not the 
chronology of the Septuagint, but that of the Hebrew text, shortened 
by Akiba. For from Adam to Christ not 4000 years, but exactly 5870 
must be reckoned ; from the Creation to the Deluge not 1500, but 2424 
years ; from thence to the departure of Abraham from Chaldea not 367, 
but 1150 years ; from the Exodus from Egypt to the building of 
the Temple not 480, but 880 years. There are no interregna in the 
history of the kings of Israel, but several kings of Juda, sons with 
fathers, reigned during certain years synchronously. The Babylonian 
captivity lasted not 64, but 70 entire years. Herod did not die four 
years before the birth of Christ, but three months after. Christ did 
not die in the 29th, but, as Daniel had foretold, in the 33d year of the 
Dionysian Era. Jerusalem was destroyed not in 70, but in 71 A. C. 
The Hebrews did not reckon by lunar months, but by fixed solar 
months ; hence Petavius has fixed all the dates of the Old and K^ew 
Testament on the wrong days. 

2. Egyptian history was, previous to the discovery of the numerous 
astronomical monuments before mentioned, a complete chaos, whence 
Petavius, Lepsius, Bunsen, Boeckh, Lesieur, and others, in determining 
its epochs, differ from each other by hundreds and thousands of years. 
The kings of Persia and the Lagidse were ante-dated by Petavius by 

206 



APPENDIX. 207 



two years. Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, did not die in 30, Lut 
28 B. C. (historically). The kings from Menes to the XVIIIth Dy- 
nasty did not reign siiccessively, but for the most part contemporane- 
ously. 

3. In regard to the Assyrian, Median, and Persian history, Petavius 
has taken the eclipses of the moon, erroneously calculated, for old 
Babylonian observations ; whence he has post-dated Nabonassar by 
one year, and ante-dated the following kings by two years, and Cyrus 
even by four years. 

4. The entire history of Greece has been ante-dated by Petavius by 
two years, the same error having been committed by him in regard to 
the Olympiads. Besides all this, he has introduced the Archon Pisan- 
der in 412 B. C. contrary to the Parian Marble, whereas he should be 
placed before Pythador I. in 432 B. C. (historically). That a whole 
year was missing between Thucydides and Xenophon's Hellenica had 
not been noticed by Petavius ; and the Peloponnesian war has been 
shortened by one year. From the battle of Marathon to the Pelopon- 
nesian war Petavius has counted one year too many, and thus ante- 
dated all the events of the Persian war by one year. The death of Alex- 
ander must not be placed in 324, but 321 B. C. (histor.). Moreover, 
Petavius fixed all the dates of Grecian history by lunar, instead of 
solar months, hence erroneously, without exception. 

5. As regards Roman history Petavius has ante-dated the foundation 
of Rome by one year, and shortened the period of the kings by one 
year. He has ante-dated all the Consuls from Brutus to 331 (historic.) 
by two yeai*s, and introduced a pair of Consuls in this year, contrary 
to Livy and all other historians. The following Consuls down to 
Julius Csesar are ante-dated by one year. The reign of Caesar has been 
shortened by Petavius by one year, he was assassinated, not in 44, but 
42 B. C. (histor.), on the 16th of March ; Augustus did not die in 14, 
but 16 A. C. For the years 47 and 79 A. C. Petavius has introduced two 
pairs of Consuls, who were Extraordinarii or suffecti, with two whole 
years, hence the Consuls between the death of Csesar and 47 A. C. must 
be placed later by two years, the succeeding Consuls to 80 A. C. by 
one year. 

A summary of all these corrections of ancient history will be found 
in the following Chronological Tables. In general all the synchronous 
events of ancient history were quite different from what Petavius has 
taught, and he does not even make the Olympian games correspond 
with the years of Rome, or the Archons with the Consuls, as the An- 
cients relate. 

The astronomical observations of the Ancients, on which these cor- 
rections are based, especially all the solar and lunar eclipses, which at 



208 APPENDIX. 



the same time serve for correcting our astronomical Tables, liave Leen 
given complete. 

The years marked in the following Tables begin with the 1st of Jan- 
uary, old style ; but the years themselves have in every case, been 
reckoned not historically, but astronomically. For astronomers have, 
ever since Dionysius Exiguus 625 A. C, always called the year which 
immediately preceded the Dionysian Era, the first year B. C, while 
historians, some centuries ago (we do not exactly know when), com- 
menced calling the same year the second year B.C., and consequently 
in every case counting one year more, and shortening the Dionysian 
Era by one year. This double chronology, the astronomical and his- 
torical, adopted in innumerable books, has been the cause of great con- 
fusion in ancient history, and still leads to daily mistakes. The most 
recent instance of that sort is exposed in the Evangelical Eeview, Get- 
tysburg, July, 1857, Vol. ix. ISo. 33, p. 58. The years A. C. are reck- 
oned alike both by astronomers and historians ; but whenever we find 
a date B.C. in historical works we cannot tell with certainty whether 
the year is meant historically or astronomically, Tinless it be marked 
hist, or astr. 

This is the origin of the many mistakes and contradictions in an- 
cient history. In addition to this, the historical chronology is evidently 
wrong, and in direct contradiction with the author of the Christian 
Era. For Dionysius Exiguus never called the year following the birth 
of Christ the year one B. C, but he called it the first year post Chris- 
tum natum, and designated it by (nought), as is still customary with 
astronomers, which is proved by Dionysius' calculation of all the Easter 
full moons from the birth of Christ to 625 A. C. this being still extant, 
and beginning with the year nought. Conf. Ideler's Chronology, XL, 
372, 292. Moreover, the Komans, since Dionysius, have regularly 
observed the commencements of the whole centuries, the halves and 
quarters of the Christian Era, which secular years commenced on the 
1st January of the years 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1800, 1850 A. C, not 701, 
801, &e., hence Christians in former times must have unanimously 
commenced the Christian Era with the year 0, according to Diony- 
sius, as astronomers continue to do. It was impossible for Dionysius 
to proceed otherwise, for the Eras of the Ancients, the years of Rome, 
the Olympiads, &c., which Dionysius copied, begin with 0, and write 
year 1 after the completion of the first 365 days. On all sun-dials, 
mile-stones, ells, &c., 1 was placed at the end of the first hour, mile, 
&c. Moreover, the years B. C. and A. C, astronomically counted, are 
easily added and substracted, while in counting historically, a year 
must always be subtracted, which many ignore. Thus, reckoning 
astronomically the period from the 1st of January 10 B. C. to the 1st 



APPENDIX. 209 



of January 10 A. C, comprises 20 years, while reckoning historically 
it comprises 19 years only. In order to find the year 100 before the 
death of Augustus (16 A. C.) historians have to deduct 16 from 100 
and add 1 year. Therefore it is very desirable that this absurd, con- 
fused, and evidently wrong, so-called historical chronology should be 
abandoned. 

To this it will be objected that this mode of reckoning has been 
adopted by many, and is found in many books. But the Chronology 
of Petavius in use to the present time will undoubtedly, because it is 
wrong, have to be changed sooner or later in all Chronological Tables 
and historical works, and for the universal introduction of astronomi- 
cal reckoning that epoch will no doubt be the most proper, when the 
whole Chronology of Petavius has commenced to make room for one 
that is better and demonstrated to be correct. "Whoever can unhesi- 
tatingly retain a reckoning so confused and incorrect as that which is 
termed the historical, may do so. For my part I could not make up 
my mind to this in these new Chronological Tables. 

B.C. A.M. 

5870 May 10th, Julian style, on the day of the vernal equinox 
Sunday ; Planetary Configuration in the beginning of the 
first week after the Creation preserved in the Hypsomata 
planetarum of all ancient nations and in the Chronique d' 
Abou Djafar Moham. Tabari, c. 2, where it is said, 
" Know what the astronomers Aristotle, Hipparchus, and 
all the great masters in astronomy before us state, how 
much time will elapse from Adam (peace be with him) till 
the day of Judgment. The said masters relate that, when 
God, the Almighty and Incomparable, created the Moon, 
Sun and Stars, each of these heavenly bodies stood fixed in 
its place till the commandment of God went forth. At this 
time Saturn stood 21° east in Libra, Jupiter 15° in Cancer, 
Mars 28° in Capricorn, the Sun 0° in Aries, Venus 27° in 
Pisces, Mercury 27° in Pisces, the Moon 3° in Taurus. — 
This was the beginning of the world and since that day these 
heavenly bodies have never stood thus again;'''' i.e., on the 
10th of May, Julian style, 5870 B. C, two days after the 
creation of Adam. Conf. Seyfiarth, Chronologia Sacra, 
Leipsic, 1846, P. 176. 

Sirius rises together with the Sun. Porphyr, Antr. 
Nymph, p. 264, Cant. ; Biblioth. Magn. Patr., Par., Vol. 
XII., p. 647, Macrob. Somn. Scrip, c. 21. 

The first Canicular Period of Theon begins. Comp. year 
26 A. C. 

Helios governs 30,000 abot (lunar months), i. e., 2424 
solar years to the deluge. Vetus Chron., Manetho accord- 
ing to the Turin papyrus. 



210 APPENDIX. 



B. C. A. M. 

6869 January 1st. Beginning of the first Julian year after the 1 

Creation. 

Beginning of the 1st Era of the world of 2146 solar years, 

during which the point of the vernal equinox passes 

through the sign of Gemini, and Ophion reigns. The 1st 

Yuga under Brahma. 

Beginning of the 1st world-period of 1000 years, i. e., 

"the golden," during which Uranus reigns. The 1st Ava- 

tara begins. Hesiod. Georg. v. 154 ; Procul. inPlaton. Tim. 

I. 45 ; Juvenal. Sat. XIII. 28. 
5640 Seth born 230 years after Adam, lives 912 years, (Gen. v. 3), 230 

the author of Astronomy, Chronology and Chirography. 

Joseph. Ant. I. 
5435 Enos, born 205 after Seth, lives 905 years.— Gen. 5, 6. 435 

5245 Cainan I., born 109 years after Enos, lives 910 years. — 

Gen. 5, 9. 
5075 Mahalaleel, born 170 after Cainan, lives 805 years. — Gen. 705 

5,12. 
4940 Adam dies, 930 old.— Gen. 5, 5. 930 

4910 Jared born 165 years after Mahalaleel, lives 962 years. — 960 

Gen. 5, 15. 
4870 Beginning of the 2d world-period (or age of the world) of 1000 

1000 years, the *' silver" age, during which Saturn reigns. 

Orphici ; Hesiod. Georg. 154. 
4778 Enochbornl62yearsafter Jared, lives 365 years. --Gen. 5, 18. 1122 
4728 Seth dies 912 years old.— Gen. 5, 8. 1142 

4583 Methuselah born 165 years after Enoch, lives 969 years — 1287 

Gen. 5, 21. 
4530 Enos dies 905 years old.— Gen. 5, 11. 1340 

4383 Enoch received into heaven in the 365th year of his life. — 1487 

Gen. 5, 24. 
4335 Cainan I. dies 910 years old.— Gen. 5, 14. 1535 

4234 Lamech born 187 (Ms. 167) and 162 years after Methuselah, 1636 

lives 753 years. — Gen. 5, 25. 
4180 Methuselah dies 895 years old.— Gen. 5, 17. 1690 

4046 Noah born 188 years after Lamech, lives 950 years. — Gen. 1824 

9 29. 
3948 Jai-ed dies, 962 years old.— Gen. 5, 20. 1922 

3870 Beginning of the 3d world-period (or age of the world), 2000 

of 1000 years, i. e., the brazen, during which Jupiter reigns. 

Orphici, Hesiod. Georg. 
3724 Beginning of the 2d Era of the "World, i. e., the silver one, 214G 

of 2146 years. The vernal equinoctial point moves from 

Gemini into Taurus, while Saturn reigns. Orphici. Pla- 
netary configuration in the beginning of this Era observed. 

Zendavesta II. 353 (Anq. d. P.), III. 63 (Kleuk). Comp. 

Sevffarth, Chronol. S., P. 189. 
3614 Methuselah dies, 9C9 years old.— Gen. 5, 27. 2256 

3566 First announcement of the Deluge, 120 years before it oc- 2304 

curred. — Gen. 0, 3. 



APPENDIX. 211 



'B. C. A. M. 

8546 Japhet born, 500 years after Noah.— Gen. 5, 32. 2324 

3543 Shem born, 100 years before Arphaxad.— Gen. 11, 10. 2327 

3540 Ham born after Shem.— Gen. 5, 32. 2330 

3481 Lamech dies, 753 years old.— Gen. 5, 31. 2389 

3447 Novemb. 8th, Juhan style, (on the 17th day of the 2d 2423 

month). The Deluge commences in the 600th year of Noah. 

Gen. 7, 11, 6. — Typhon (the sea) kills his brother Osiris 

^the continent), and encloses his remains in a chest My- 

thologi -^gypt. Xisuthrus saves himself, his family, the 

alphabet, &c., in a ship ; Berosus in Josephus. — Demarus 

(the earth) is overpowered by Pontus (the sea) in the 32d 

year (of the gods) i. e., 2423 B. C. Sanchunjathon ed. Orell. 

p. 33. 34. — Ophion is cast by Satan into the sea. Apollon. L 

502 ; Tzetzes ad Lycophr. 1192. — Prometheus is chained 

to the Caucasus. Hesiod. Theog. 507; Apollod. I. 2; 

Ovid. Met. I. — Deucalion (Ogyges, Cadmus) spared at the 

deluge, invents the new alphabet. Mythol. Lat. — Varro 

tria discrimina temporum esse tradit : primum ab hominum 

initio ad cataclysmum priorem ; secundum a cataclysmo ad 

Olympiadem. Censorin. Fid. n. 21, and so on. 

3446 Sept. 7th : Configuration of the Seven Planets, at the end 2424 

of the deluge preserved in the Noachian alphabet. See 

Seyffarth, Unser Alphabet ein Abbild des Thierkreises : 

Leips. 1834 ; Unumstoesslicher Beweis, cet. Leips. 1839 ; 

Alphabeta Genuina, cet. Lips. 1840. — Horus Stoliarcha 

(the sea-captain) avenges the death of Osiris, Mythogr. 

^g. — Taant invents the Alphabet imitating the heavens : 

Sanchunjath, cfcc. 



B. C. A. M. 

3445 Jan. 1st : Beginning of the post-diluvian Era. — The supe- 2425 
rior gods of the Egyptians reign 3984 and 117 abot (i. e., 
666 solar years) till Menes. Yetus Chron., Manetho, Hero- 
dot. — Noah goes forth from the Ark. — Gen. 8, 13 seq. 

3442 Arphaxad born, 100 years after Shem, two full years after 2428 
the end of the Deluge. — -Gen. 11, 10 ; Luke 3, 36. 

3407 Cainan II. born 135 years after Arphaxad. — Gen. 11, 12 ; 2563 
according to the LXX. ; Josephus and Luke 3, 36. 

3177 Salah born 130 years after Cainan II. — Gen. 11, 13 ; accord- 2693 
ing to the LXX., Josephus and Luke 3, 36. 

3096 Noah dies, 950 vears old.— Gen. 9, 29. 2774 

3047 Heber born, 130 years after Salah.— Gen. 11, 14 ; Luke 3, 2323 
35. 

2942 Shem dies 500 years after Arphaxad's birth.— Gen. 11, 10. 2928 

2913 Phaleg born, 134 years after Heber.— Gen. 11, 16. 2957 

2907 Arphaxad dies, 400 years after Cainan II's. birth.— Gen. 2963 
11, 12. 

2870 The 4th Period of the world of 1000 years begins, (the 3000 
iron). Hesiod. Georg. v. 154 ; Virgil. 

2847 Cainan dies 330 years after tlie birth of Salah.— Gen. 11, 13. 3023 



212 APPENDIX. 



B. C. A. M. 

Nimrod at this time (600 years after the Deluge) lays the 
foundation of the empire of Sinear on the Euphrates and 
Tigris (Babj-lonia, Erech, Arcad, Chalne), builds Nineveh 
and the Babylonian tower. — Gen. 10, 11. 12. 
2817 Salah dies 230 years after the birth of Heber.— Gen. 11, 14. 3053 
2783 Rhegu born 130 years after Phaleg.— Gen. 11, 18. 3087 

Dispersion of the nations from Babel ; origin of dialects 
and languages in the time of Phaleg. — Gen. 11, 9. 
Menes (Mizraim) moves from Babel to Egypt. 
2781 July 20th, (old style) : Sirius rises heliacall}- in Egypt, be- 3089 

gipning of the first Canicular Period of 1460 years. 
2780 July 16th, (Summer Solstice) : Planetary Configuration at 3090 
the foundation of the empire of Egypt, represented on the 
temple at Karnak, on many other monuments, in Manetho, 
Vetus Chronicon. Herodot., Syncell. Seyftarth, Berich- 
tiguugen der alten Geschichte, Leips. 1855, Tab. I. — Begin- 
ning of Egyptian history and the Manetbonian Dynasties. 
Simultaneous reign of the first 12 Dynasties of Manetho. 
2747 Ninus King of Sinear builds Nineveh. Diod. II. 1. 3123 

2719 Athothis (Thoth) the 2d King in upper Egypt, inventor 3151 
of the hieroglyphics (Man. Eratosth., Table of Abydos), 
author of the sacred writings of the ancient Egyptians. 
2651 Serug born 132 years after Rhegu.— Gen. 11, 20. 3219 

2643 Heber dies 132 years after Phaleg's birth ; 238 years after 3227 

the dispersion. — Gen. 11, 16. 
2554 Sesostris, the Great, (Sirius in Eratosthenes) the 3d King 3316 
in the XII. Dyn. of Manetho, reigns in Upper Egypt under 
whom the Phoenix-Periods of 652 years began. Maneth., 
Eratosth. Tab. of Abydos. 

April 6th : Mercury (Phoenix) crosses the solar disk un- 
der Sesostris. Tacit. An. VI. 28. 
2521 Nahor born 130 years after Serug.— Gen. 11, 22 ; Luke 3349 

3, 34. 

2474 Phaleg dies 209 years after Rhegu's birth.- Gen. 11, 18. 3396 

2444 Rhegu dies 207 years after Serug's birth.— Gen. 11, 20. 342G 

2442 Sarali born 79 years after Nahor's birth.— Gen. 11, 24. 3428 

2372 Abraham born 70 years after Terah"s birth.— Gen. 11, 26. 3490 

2321 Serug dies 200 years after Xahor's birth.— Gen. 11, 22. 3549 

2161 ^giolus, the 1st King of Sicyon. Euseb. Chron., Sync. 3709 

2317 Nahor dies 125 years after Terah"s birth.— Gen. 11, 24. 3553 

2297 Abraham 75 years old goes from Mesopotamia to Canaan 3573 

and Egvpt, 215 j-ears before Israel. — Gen. 12, 4. 40. Jose- 

phus Ant. II. 15 ; B. 7. V. 9. 

2296 The first Dynasty of the Shepherd Kings (Hyksos, Dyn. 3574 

XV.) reign in Goshen contemporaneously with Egyptian 

Kings. Manetho according to Julius African. 

2286 Ishmael born of Hagar in the 86th year of Abraham. — 3584 

Gen. 16, 3. 16 ; Joseph. Ant. I. 10, 5. 
2273 Sodom and Gomorrha burnt, origin of the Dead Sea. — Gen. 3597 
14, 3 ; 13, 10. 



APPENDIX. 21 



o 



B. C. A. M. 

2272 Isaac born 100 years after Abraham. — Gen. 21, 5 ; 17, 1. 3598 
2237 Terah dies in Charan 205 years old.— Gen. 11, 32. 3633 

2232 Isaac 40 years old marries Rebecca.— Gen. 25, 20. 3638 

2212 Israel born 60 years after Isaac's birth ; at the same time 3658 

with him Esau. — Gen. 25, 26. 
2197 Abraham dies 175 years old. — Gen. 25, 9. 8673 

2164 Isaac dies 108 years old.— Gen. 35, 28. 3706 

2121 Joseph born 30 years before his elevation. — Gen. 41, 46. 3709 
2104 Joseph 17 years old is sold into Egypt. — Gen. 37, 2. 3766 

2091 Joseph 30 years old is made Pharoah's counsellor. — Gen. 3779 

41, 45. 50. 
2082 Israel, 700 years after the beginning of the canicular peribd 3788 

(2782 B. C.) settled in the land of Goshen. Maneth. 
The 2d Dynasty of Shepherd Kings (Hyksos, Dyn. 

XYII.) reigns contemporaneously with Egyptian Kings 215 

years. Joseph. Ant. II. 15 ; Clemens Alex. Strom. I. 145. 
2065 Jacob dies 147 years old, 17 years after settling in Egypt. 3805 

Gen. 47, 28. 
2011 Joseph dies 110 years old, 65 years before the birth of Mo- 3859 

ses. — Gen. 50, 22. 
1954 Jerusalem founded by Melchisedek, 1368 years before its 3916 

destruction by K^ebuchadnezzar (586 B. C.). Joseph. B. 

7. VI. 10, 1. 
1951 Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces three years 3919 

before the birth of Moses. Joseph. Ant. II. 9, 2. 7 ; Abar- 

banel, Comm. in Dan. Amst. 1547, p. 83 ; P. Elieser, Lugd. 

B. 1644, c. 48, p. 130 ; Ideler, Chronol. II. 400. 
1950 Aaron born three years before Moses. — Ex. 7, 7. 3920 

1947 August 3d, (1st day of the 11th month) : three years after 3923 

the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces (See 

1951 B. C.) Moses is born three years before the Exody 

from Egypt.- Ex. 7, 7. 
1928 Aseth, last King of the XYHth Dyn. of Manetho, 32d King 3942 

from Menes dies. He is followed by Misphrathuthmos. and 

the Kings of the XYIIIth Dyn. Vetus Chron. in Syncell. ; 

Joseph, c. Ap. ; Manetho. 
1911 Joshua, great grandson of Joseph, born forty-five years 3959 

before the Exody.— Jos. 24, 29. . 

1906 Moses forty years old, flies in Midian to Jethro in the reign 3964 

of Misphrathuthmoses. — Ex. 2, 21. 
1903 Amos I., King of the XYIIIth Dyn. of Egypt, succeeds 3969 

Misphrathuthmoses, under whom the Phoenix period of 652 

years is renewed. Conf. 2554 B. C. 

April 7th : Mercury (Phoenix) passes over the solar disk. 

Tacit. An. YI. 28. 
1878 Chebron, co-regent with his father Amos I., governs thir- 3992 

teen j-ears. Joseph, c. A., Manetho. 
1870 The 5th Period of 1000 years commences. Hesiod.Georg. 4000 

154. 
1867 Moses is called to deliver his people. — Ex. 3, 2 seq. 4003 



214 APPENDIX. 



B. C. A. M. 

Moses and Aaron appear before Pharoali Amos I. 
(Thutbmoses). — Ex. 7, 11. 
1866 April 4th : (14tli Nisan, 19 Pharmnthi) : Institution of the 4004 
Passover of the Hebrews, three days before the vernal equi- 
nox. — Ex. 12, 6. 

April 5th, Sunday, (15th Msan) : Exody of the Hebrews 
from Egypt under Amos I. and Chebron. — Num. 33, 3 ; 
Exod. 12, 40 ; 13, 18. 

Chebron perishes in the Red Sea. — Exod. 14, 28. 
April 7th, vernal equinox : beginning of the civil year 
of the Hebrews.— Ex. 12, 2. 

April 12th : the Israelites at Marah. — Ex. 15, 23 ; Numb. 
33, 8. 

May 20th, (15th day of the 2d month) : The Israelites in 
the desert of Sin. — Ex. 16, 1. 

July 8th, (1st day of the 3d month) : Legislation on Si- 
nai. — Ex. 19, 1. 

Oct. 10th, (1st day of the 1st month) : autumnal equi- 
nox ; consecration of the tabernacle. — Ex. 40, 1. 
1831 August 14th : Planetary configuration at the birth of Amos 4039 

II. on the Paris Monolith. Seyffarth, Astron. jEg. 270. 
1827 The 40th year after the Exodus from Egypt.— Num. 33, 37. 4043 
January 31st, (1st day of the 5th month) : Aaron dies 123 
years old.— Num. 32, 33. 

August 3d, (1st day of the 11th month) : Moses dies on 
the anniversary of his birth, 120 years old in mount Nebo. 
Deuter. 31, 2 ; 34, 5. 
1826 Octob. 9th, (10th day of the 1st month) : autumnal equi- 4044 
nox ; Joshua eighty-five years old, passes over Jordan into 
Canaan. — Josh. 4, 19. 
1820 Sept. : The first Sabbath-year ends.— Josh. 11, 23. 4050 

1801 Joshua dies 110 years old, 25 years after Moses. — Josh. 24, 4069 

29. Joseph. Ant. XXIV., 29. 
1778 The 1st Servitude of the Israelites.— Jud. 3, 8. 4092 

1770 Othniel, Judge of the Israelites during 40 years. — Jud. 3, 8. 4100 
1730 The 2d Servitude of the Israelites.— Jud. "3, 14. 4140 

January 4th : Planetary configuration on the Osimanthy- 
eum at Karnak, and the Sarcophagus of Osimanthya in 
Saone's Museum at London, Seyff., Berichtigungen d. a. 
G. Tab. I. 

Birth of Osimanthya, father of Ramses the Great, last 
King but one of the XVlII. D}^. 
1715 Sparta founded by Spartus, according to Euseb. 4155 

1712 Ehud, Judge of the Hebrews for eighty years. — Jud. 3, 30. 4158 
The Moabites are conquered 300 years before Judge Jeph- 
tha.— Jud. 11, 26. 
1693 Planetary configuration on the Sarcophagus of Ramses the 4177 
Great in Paris. Sej-ff., Astron. JEg. 

Ramses Mciamuu, son of Osimanthya, 15th King of the 
XVIIIth Dvn., boru. Manetho. 



APPENDIX. 215 



B. C. A. M. 

1632 Third Servitude of the Hebrews.— Jud. 3, 31. 4238 

1631 Samgar, Judge of the Hebrews. — Jud. 3, 31. 4239 

Planetary configuration on the Sarcophagus of Sethos in 

the Brit. Mus. 
1605 Sethos, first King of the XIX. Dyn. of Eg. Man. 4265 

1585 Fourth Servitude of the Hebrews.— Judg. 4, 1. 3. 4286 

1578 Planetary configuration in the beginning of the 3d Era of 4292 

the world (Yuga), comprising 2146 yeai's, during which 

Jupiter (Eama) reigned. — The equinoctial point moves 

from Taurus into Aries. Comp. 5870 and 3724 B. C. SeyfF. 

Chronol. S. 

Cecrops, 1st King of Athens, founds the castle of Cecro- 

pia. Parian Marb. 
1572 February 1st : Planetary configuration at the birth of 4298 

Raphaces (Ramses III.), 2d King of the XIX. Dyn. Seyfi'. 

Berichtig. d. a. G. P. 137. 
1565 Deborah judge of the Hebrews. — Jud. 5, 31. 4305 

1525 Fifth Servitude of the Hebrews.— Jud. 6, 1. 4345 

1524 April 5th : Planetary configuration on the Sarcophagus of 4346 

Raphaces, governor. See year 1572 B. C. Seyff. Be- 
richtig. Tab. I. 
1518 Gideon, Judge of the Hebrews.— Jud. 8, 28. 4352 

1507 DanjBus and the Danaidse come from Egypt to Greece, 4363 

and found the temple of Minerva, in the 3d year of Erich- 

thonius. Par. Marb. Ep. 9th. 
1478 Sixth Servitude of the Hebrews.— Jud. 8, 33. 4392 

1477 Abimelech, Judge of the Hebrews at this time. — Jud. 9, 22. 4393 
1474 Thola judges the Hebrews about this time. — Jud. 10, 2. 4396 
1451 Jair judges the Hebrews about this time. — Jud. 10, 3. , 4419 
1429 Seventh Servitude of the Hebrews.— Judges 10, 8. 4441 

1428 Minos I. King of Crete. Par. Marb. Ep. 11. 4442 

1412 Jephthah judges the Hebrews.— Jud. 12, 6. Note. From 4458 

Judge Ehud to Jephthah are 300 years. — Jud. 11, 26. 
1406 Ibzar, Judge of the Hebrews.— Jud. 12, 8. 4464 

1399 Elon, Judge of the Hebrews.— Jud. 12, 10. 4471 

1395 Orpheus flourishes in Greece in the 25th year of the reign 4475 

of King Erechtheus. Par. Marb. Ep. 14. 
1389 Abdon, Judge of the Hebrews.— Jud. 12, 14. 4481 

1381 Eighth Servitude of the Hebrews.— Jud. 13, 1. 4489 

1341 Samson, Judge of the Hebrews.— Jud. 15, 20. 4529 

1326 Jamis, King of Italy about this time. Dion. Hal. 4544 

1324 Ilium founded according to Clemens Al. 4546 

1322 July 15th : Commencement of the Apis-periods of twenty- 4549 

five vague years each. — Plut. De Is. 56. 

July 20th : Sirius rises heliacally ; beginning of the 2d 

Canicular Period of 1460 years. 

Menephres, King of the XXth Dyn., reigns in Egypt. — 

Manetho. 

Interregnum in the Period of the Judges of nearly 172 

years. — Jud. 17, 6 ; 19, 1. 



216 APPENDIX. 



B. C. A. M. 

1260 Troy conquered according to Herodotus II., 145 ; I. 7. 4610 

II. 13. 
1255 Theseus, lOth King of Athens. — Isthmia instituted. Par. 4615 

Marb. Ep. 20. 
1251 Cheops (Chemmis), King of the XXth Dyn., who built 4619 
the largest Pyramid at Ghizeh, lived about this year, after 
the downfall of Troy. Herod II. 
1213 Chephren (Chephris), King of the XXth Dj^n., who built 4657 
the second large Pyramid near Ghizeh, according to Herod. 
II., lived about this year. 
1177 Micerinus, King of the XXth Dyn., who bmlt the 3d Pyra- 4693 

mid at Ghizeh, according to Herod II. 
1156 Homer about this time, according to Philostr. Heroic, p. 4714 

194. Bois. 
1149 Eli, Judge of the Hebrews.— 1 Sam. 4, 18. 15. 4721 

1109 Samuel enters his prophetic mission. — 1 Sam. 4, 1. 4761 

1089 Samuel is made Judge of the Hebrews. — Joseph. Ant. YI. 4781 

13,5. 
1077 The XXIst Dyn. of Manetho reigns 130 years. Man. 4793 

1076 Aristodemus, the 1st King of Sparta about this time. 4794 

Euseb. Chron. 
1070 Saul anointed King by Samuel. — 1 Sam. 10, 1. Assumes 4800 

the reign the following year. Samuel retires. — 1 Sam. 12, 2. 
1068 Medon, after Codrus' death, first Archon for life of the 4802 

Athenians ; according to Euseb. 
1029 David, after Saul's death, reigns in Hebron.— 2 Sam. 2, 11. 4841 
1001 Amenophthis, 4th King of the XXIst Dyn., reigns about 4869 
this time. 
989 Solomon, after David's death. King in Jerusalem. — 2 Kings 4881 

11, 43 ; 1 Kings 2, 12. 
986 March 22d, {vernal equinox), 2d day of the month of Siv : 4884 
foundation of Solomon's Temple 880 years after the Exodus 
of Egypt.— 1 Kings 6, 1 ; 2 Chron. 3, 2. 
979 Sept. 23d (autumnal equinox), 16th day of the month of 4891 

Bui ; dedication of Solomon's Temple. — 1 Kings 6, 38. 
949 Rehoboam, after Solomon's death. King of the Hebrews. — 4921 
2 Chron. 12, 13. 

Jeroboam I., King of Israel, independent of Rehoboam. 
1 Kings 12, 2. 
947 The XXII. Dyn. of Manetho begins to reign, according to 4923 

Julius African. 
945 Shishak conquers Jerusalem in the 5th year of Rehoboam. 4925 

—1 Kings 14, 25. 
931 Abijam, 2d King of Judah.— 1 Kings 15, 1 ; 2 Chron. 4939 

13, 1. 
928 Asa, 3d King of Judah in 20th year of Jeroboam. — 1 Kings 4942 
15, 8. 

Nadab, 2d King of Israel. — 1 Kings 15, 25. 
926 Baasha, 3d King of Israel.— 1 Kings 15, 33. 4944 

923 Lycurgus, according to Clemens Al. Strom. I. 309. Syll. 4947 



APPENDIX. 



217 



B. C. A. M. 

902 Elah and Zimri, 4th and 5th Kings of Israel.— 1 Kings 16, 4968 

22. 
901 Tibni and Omri, 6th King of Israel.— 1 Kings 16, 22. 4969 

891 Ahab, 7th King of Israel.— 2 Chron. 16, 13.— The Prophet 4979 

Elijah about this time. — 1 Kings 17, 1. 5. 9 ; 18, 40. 
888 Jehoshaphat, co-regent of his father Asa of Juda. — 1 Kings 4982 

15, 23 ; 2 Chron. 14, 2. 
887 Carthage founded by Dido, 134 years sooner than Rome. 4983 

Joseph. Ant. 
870 The 6th Period of 1000 years (the leaden or clay), begins : 5000 

Juvenal. Sat. XIII. 28 ; Hesiod. Georg. 154 ; Virg. Eel. IV. 
867 Ahaziah, 8th King of Israel.— 1 Kings 22, 51 ; 2 Kings 1, 1. 5003 
866 Jehoram, 9th King of Israel.— 2 Kings 3, 1. 5004 

862 Jehoram, 6th King of Judah.— 2 Kings 8, 16 ; 2 Chron. 5008 

21,5. 
855 Ahazia, 7th King of Judah.— 2 Kings 8, 25 ; 2 Chron. 22, 2. 5015 
854 Athalja, 8th sovereign of Judah ; Jehu, 10th King of Israel. 5016 

—2 Kings 10, 36. 
852 Aventinus, 12th King of the Latins. Dion. Hal. 5018 

848 Jehoash, 9th King of Judah.— 2 Kings 12, 1. 5022 

826 Jehoahaz, 11th King of Israel.- 2 Kings 13, 1. 5044 

823 Petubastis, 1st King of the XXIII. Dyn., according to Man. 5047 
812 Joash, 12th King of Israel.— 2 Chron. 24, 1 ; 2 Kings 13, 10. 5058 
811 Caranus, 1st King of the Macedonians. Euseb. 5059 

808 Amaziah, 10th King of Judah.— 2 Kings 14, 1. 5062 

806 The Prophet Jonah in Nineveh.— Jon. 1, 1. 5064 

803 Jeroboam II., 13th King of Israel, co-regent of his father 5067 

Joash.— 2 Kings 14, 21. 
799 Uzzia, 11th King of Judah, co-regent of his father Ama- 5071 

ziah.— 2 Chron. 25, 1. 
797 Capua and N"ola founded. Vellej. I. 7. 5073 

783 The XXIV. Dyn. of Manetho reigns 44 years. After Euseb. 5087 
Isaiah and Obadiah about this time. — Is. 1, 1. 
Alcamenes, King of Sparta in the 7th year of his reign, 

■when the Olympic games were introduced. Euseb. Chr. 

I. 166. 

March 29th (vernal equinox) : Planetary configuration 

three months before the first Olympic games. Pind. 

Olymp. V. 10, with the Schol. ; Pausan. V. 14. See 

Seyff. Berichtigungen p. 230. 



B. C. Olymp. A. M. 

777. 0, 1. June 2d (Ist Hekatombseon) : The first Olym- 5093 

pic games were celebrated four years later. 
Note. — After the completion of the first four 
Olympian years they wrote, Olymp. 1, 1 ; 
according to ancient usage, i. e., in the first 
year after the completion of the first Olym- 
piad ; consequently in the 773d year B. C. 

776 Telestes, last King of the Corinthians dies ; 5094 

10 



218 APPENDIX. 



B. C. Olymp. A. M. 

introduction of annual Prytani. Euseb. Chron. 

II. 318. 
... 0, 2. June 2d (1st Hekatombseon) : beginning of the 

second Olympian year. 
775 ... iEschylus, the 12th Archon for life, in the 2d 5095 

year of his reign the Olympian games were 

celebrated for the first time. Euseb. Chron. 

II. 318 ; Par. Marb. 
... 0, 3. June 2d, (Ist Hecatombseon) : Beginning of 

the 3d Olympian year, erroneously the first 

with some authors. 
773 . . . The second year of ^schylus, the Archon for 6097 

life. 
1, 1. June 2d, (1st Hecatombseon) : The first Olym- 

plan games were celebrated from the 11th to 

the 16th day of the lunar month Hecatombseon 

always previous to the Summer solstice. 

Choroebus Ist Olympian victor. 
771. 1. 3. November 19th, 0^ 45' : Solar eclipse in Eome 5099 

("^7° east,) nine months before the birth of 

Eomulus. Plut. Rom. c. 12 ; Dion. Hall. II. 

56. 
762. . . . Zachariah and Shallum, 14th and 15th Kings 5108 

of Israel.— 2 Kings 15, 8. 15. 
760. 4, 2. Menahem, 16th King of Israel.— 2 Kings 15, 6110 

17. 
755. 5, 3. Bocharis, 1st King of the XXIV. Dyn. of Ma- 5115 

netho. . 

754. 5, 4. Institution of the Ephori in Sparta. Euseb. . 6116 

Chr. 
753. 6, 1. Romulus seventeen years old in August, founds 5117 

Rome on the day of the vernal equinox of the 

following year, according to Varro, one yeai 

later according to Cato. 



B.C. 01. U. C. A.M. 

752, 6, 1. Beginning of the year, in which Rome was 5118 
founded, according to Varro. 

... ... Vernal Equinox (Parilia), according to the 

Roman Calendar XI. Kal. May, (April 21st) : 
Rome founded. Varro. 

May 25th, le*" P. T. : Eclipse of the Sun at 

Teos (.$12° east), during the building of Rome. 
Plut. Rom. c. 12 ; Cic. De Div. II. 47. 

... ... May 25th : Planetary configuration during 

the building of Rome, according to the calcu- 
lation of Tarutius in Solin. Polyh. I. 18. 

.... 6, 2. Commences on the 2d of June, (1st Hecatom- ' 

bseon). 

751. . . . January 1st : Beginning of the 1st year after 1. 6119 



APPENDIX. 219 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

the foundation of Rome, according to Yarro, 

whence Vellejus I. 8. correctly reckoned, 783 

years from the foundation of Rome to the 

Consuls 32 A. C. 
750. 6, 3. Pekahiah, 17th King of Israel.— 2 Kings 15 : 2. 5120 

23. 
749. 6, 4. Sabakon, 1st King of the XXV. Dyn. of Ma- 3. 5121 

netho. 
748. 7, 1. Pekkah, 18th King of Israelites.— 2 Kings 15, 4. 5122 

27. 
747. 7,2. Prophet Isaiah; Is. 1, 1. Jotham, 12th King 5. 5123 

of Judah.— 2 Chron. 27, 1. 
741. 9, 4. Ahaz, 13th King of Judah, co-regent of his 11. 5129 

father Jotham. — 2 Kings 16, 1. 
728. 12, 1. Hosea, 19th and last King of Israel.— 2 Kings 24. 5142 

17,1. 
725. 12, 4. Hezekiah, 14th King of Judah, co-regent of 27. 5145 

his father Ahaz.— 2 Kings 18, 1 ; 17, 23. 
721. 14, 1. Septemb. 23d, I*' 30' P. T. : Lunar eclipse in 31. 5149 

Babel ( r^ cor. 1° east) in the year of Mardo- 

kempad. Ptol. Aim. IV. 244. 
720. 14, 2. Skalraanaser destroys the kingdom of Israel. 32. 5150 

— 2 Kings 17, 5. 
... ... March 19th : Lunar eclipse in Babel (Ptolom 

Aim.) in the 2d jenr of Mardokempad. 
715. 15, 3. June 5th, 20'' 15' : Solar eclipse in Rome (^ 37. 5155 

4° west) ; Romulus dies. Cic. R. P. 1. 16 ; Plut. 

Rom. c. 27. 
713. 15, 4. jS'uma Pompilius, King of the Romans. Liv. 89. 5157 

I. 21. 
696. 20, 2. Hezekiah dies ; Manasseh, 15th King of Ju- 56. 5174 

dah.— 2 Kings 21, 1. 
695. 20, 3. The XXVI. Dyn. of Manetho reigns.— Man. 57. 5175 
680. 24, 2. Creon, the first annual Archon. Paus. IV. 72. 5190 

15, 1 ; Par. Marb. Ep. 32. 
670. 26, 4. Tullus Hostilius, 3d King of Rome. Liv. I. 31. 82. 5200 
641. 34, 1. Amon, 16th King of Judah.— 2 Chron. 33, 21. 111. 5229 
638. 34, 4. Josiah, 17th King of Judah.— 2 Chron. 34, 1. 113. 5231 
... ... Ancus Martius, 4th King of the Romans. Liv 

I. 35. 
624. 38, 2. Nabopolasser, father of Nebuchadnezzar, King 128. 5246 

of Babylon. Ptol. Can. 
621. 38,4. May 3d, 2^ (P. M.) P. T. : Lunar eclipse in 131. 5249 

Babylon. Ptol. Aim. 
May 18th, 8^ 15' (A. M.) P. T. : Total eclipse 

near the river of Halys one year before the 

birth of Mandane, mother of Cyrus. Her. I. 

74. 103. 
620. 39, 1. April 1st. Lunar eclipse in Babel. Ptol. Akn. 132.5250 
V. 14, p. 340. 



220 APPENDIX. 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

614. 40, 3. Tarquinius Prisons, 5tli King of the Romans. 138. 5256 

Liv. I. 40. 
... ... Nebuchadnezzar co-regent of Nabopolassar for 

ten years. 
607. 42, 2. Josiah, vanqnished by Necho, dies. — 2 Chron. 145. 5263 

35, 23. 
. . ; ... Jehoahaz, 19th King of Judah for three 

months.— 2 Chron. 36, 1. 3. 
... 42, 3. Jehoiakim, 20th King of Judah.-2 Kings 23, 34. 
604. 43, 1. Nebuchadnezzar defeats the Jews and Necho 148.. 5266 

11. near Circisium. — Jer. 25, 1 ; 46, 2. 

... ... Hophra, King of Egypt. Man. 

... ... Beginning of the Babylonian Captivity of sev- 

enty years. — Jer. 25, 1 ; 36, 5 ; Dan. 1, 1. 
596. 45, 1. Jehoikim dies ; Jehoiachin, 21st King of Ju- 166. 5274 

dah, who three months after is succeeded by 

Zedekiah, last King of Judah. — 2 Kings 24, 18. 
... . . • Second deportation of the Jews to Babylon 

—2 Chron. 36, 10. 
45, 2. Cyrus born, ascends the throne of Persia forty 

years later. Cic. De Div. I. 23 ; Dan. 6, 1, 
587. 47, 2. Institution of the Pythian games and the Py- 165. 5283 

thiads, which like the Olympiads began with 

0. Par. Marb. Ep. 37 ; Pausan. X. 7, 3. 

... 47, 3. Octob. 8th, (10th day of the 2d month), com- 

mences besieging Jerusalem. — 2 Kings 25, 1. 
585. 47, 4. The 10th year of Zedekiah, the 18th of Nebu- 167. 5285 

chadnezzar. — Jer. 32, 1. 
48, 1. Olympian games celebrated. Archon Philip- . . ... 

pus. Clem. Al. Strom. I. 331. 
684. ... The 11th year of Zedekiah, the 19th year of 168. 5286 

Nebuchadnezzar. 
48, 2. August 9th (9th Ab.), Saturday : Destruction 

of Jerusalem 365 years after Solomon's death. 

—2 Kings 25, 8 ; Jer. 39, 2 ; 52, 5 ; Seder 

01am p. 91, seq. 
681. 48, 4. March 27th, H'^ 15', total solar eclipse at Mi- 171. 5289 

letus, predicted by Thales. Plin. H. K. II. 

12, 9. 

579. 49, 2. Cyrus sixteen years old leads an army against 173. 5291 

the Assyrians. Cyrop. I. 4, 16. 
... 49, 3. Nebuchadnezzar defeats Hophra, conquers 

Egypt and brings hieroglyphic inscriptions to 

Nineveh (Nimrud). Joseph. Ant. X. 9, 7 ; C. 

An. I. 19 ; Layard Nin. II. Tab. 22. 
576. 50, 1. Servius Tullus, 6th King of the Romans, (Liv. 176. 5294 

1. 44), who governs forty-four years. Dion. 
Hal. I. 75. 

670. 51, 3. The 34th year of the Babylonian Captivity. 182. 5300 
See 604 B. C— Ezek. 1, 1. 



APPENDIX. 221 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 
51, 4. Autumnal Equinox : Institution of theNemean 

games. Euseb. Arm. II. 338 ; Hieron. ad 

Olymp. 58, 1. 
560. 64, 1. Nebuchadnezzar dies ; he is succeeded by 192. 5310 

Evil Merodach (Illyarudam). Ptol. Can. ; 2 

Kings 25, 27. 
557. 54, 4. Cyaxares II. King of Media after Alyattes. 195. 5313 

Cyrop. I. 5, 4. 
556. 55, 1. Cyrus, King of Persia. Diod. II. 32; Euseb. 196. 5314 

P. Ev. X. 10. p. 488 ad 01. 55, 1. 
552. 56, 1. Belshazzar (Nabonnad), King of Babylonia. 200. 5318 

— Dan. 5, 1 ; Ptol. Can. 
543, 58, 2. Cyrus conquers Sardes ; CrcBsus captured. 209. 5327 

Par. Marb. Ep. 42. 
534. 60, 3. Cyrus conquers Babylon ; Nabonnad slain. 218. 5336 

Cyrop. VII. 4, 16. 
633. 60, 4. Cyrus becomes King of Babylonia after Cyax- 219, 5337 

ares II. 's death, and governs seven years 

longer. Cyrop VIII. 7, 1. 

61, 1. End of the Babylonian Captivity. — Is. 23, 15 

... ... Daniel prophesies the birth of Christ to hap- 

pen after 532 years ; his death after 565 years. 

—Dan. 9, 24. 
532. 61, 1. Serubbabel leads the Jews back to Jerusalem. 220. 6338 

— Esr. 2, 64. 
61, 2. Sept. 30th, day of the Autumnal equinox 

Consecration of altar for burnt-offerings ; the 

twenty-four orders of priest began their week- 
ly Turns on the 25th of Septemb. 
..." ... Tarquinius Superbus, last King of the Eomans 

Livy. I. 60. 
526. 62, 3. Cyrus dies, Cambyses (Ahasverus) succeeds. 226. 5344 

Cyrop. VIII. 7, 1. 
521. 63, 4. Cambyses conquers Egypt. Diod. I. 68. 230. 5348 

520. 64, 1. The 1st day of Thoth, i. e., the 1st of January. 231. 5349 

Eenewal of an Apis-Period of twenty-five 

years. Her. III. 37. 
... ... Cambyses returned from his expedition in . . ... 

Ethiopia on beginning of a new Apis-Period 

Her. III. 57 ; Conf 1321 B. C. 
... 64, 2. June 22d, 14'* P. T. : Eclipse of the moon in 

Babylon, (^ 10°, cor. 15° west). Ptol. Aim. 

V. 14. 
518. 64,3. April 19th, 20'^ : Eclipse of the sun in Athens, 234. 5352 
C^ 13° east). Fast. Sic. p. 146. — Darius co-regent 

of Cambyses. 
515. 65, 2. The 2d year of Darius Hj'staspes; the Prophets 237. 5355 

Zacjiariah and liaggai. — Zaeh. 1, 1. ; Hag. 1, 1. 
611. 66, 2. March 26th (Nisan 21st), vernal equinox : Con- 241. 5359 

secration of Zerubbabel's temple. — Ezr. 6, 22. 



222 APPENDIX. 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

606. 47,4. Idus Sept., after the expulsion of the Roman 246. 5364 
Kings, Tvhich occurred in February, the Con- 
suls : Luc. Jun. Brutus, and L. Tarq. Collati- 
nus are created. Liv. I. 60. II. 18. 

499. 69, 2. May 4th, 10*^ 15' P. T. : Eclipse of the moon 253. 5371 
in Babylon during the 20th year of Darius. 
Ptol. Al. IV. 9. 

489. 72, 1. Sept. 25th, autumnal equinox : Planetary con- 263, 5381 
figuration on the socle of the Olympian Jupi- 
ter with reference to the battle of Marathon in 
the following year. Pausan. V. 11, 3. See 
Seyff. Berichtigungen p. 233. 

' Octob. 8th, 4*> 30' P. T. : eclipse of the moon 

in the 31st year of Darius Hyst. Ptol. Al. 
IV. 8. 

488. 72, 2. June : Arch. Phoenippus. Par. Marb. Ep. 264. 5382 
48 ; Plut. Aristid. c. 5. 

... ... August 2d : Full-moon, four days before the 

battle of Marathon. Herod. V. 106. 120. 

... ... August 6th, (the 6th day of Boedromion) ; 

battle of Marathon, ten years before the battle 
of Salamis. Thuc. VII. 1. 

... ... Cal. Sept.: Coss. M. Minuc. Augurinus 11., 

A. Sempr. Atratinus II. Lir. II. 34, 36. 

486. 72, 3. Xerxes, co-regent of Darius Hystaspes. Par. 266. 5383 
Marb. Ep. 49 ; under the Arch. Aristides. 

483. 73, 3. Darius dies ; Xerxes (Ahasverus, Artashastha 269. 5387 
Esth. 1, 1 ; 7, 1.) King of Persia in the 5th 
year after the battle of Marathon. Her. VII. 4. 

479. 74, 2. Esther married to Xerxes in the 7th year of 273. 6891 
his reign. — Esth. 2, 16. 

... ... March 26th : Planetary configuration on the 

Parthenon-Frieze in relation to the deliverance 
of Greece. 

... April 3d, (the first day of Msan) : Ezra eon- 

ducts a colony to Jerusalem. — Ezr. 7, 7 ; Jo- 
seph. Ant. XI. 5, 1. 

478. 74, 3. February 27th, 15*^ 30' : Total eclipse of the 274. 5392 
sun at Sardes (Is 12° east). Her. VII. 37.— 
Arch. Themistocles. Schol. Thuc. I. 93. 

... ... Xerxes builds the bridge of boats over the 

Hellespont, which is destroyed. Par. Marb. 
Ep. 61. 

477. 75, 1. Arch. Xantippes. Par. Marb. Ep. 52. _ 275. 5393 

... ... Battle at Thermopylse during the Olympian 

games. Herod. VII. 206. — Battle at Artemis- 
cium. Herod. VIII. 15. 

Sept. 23d, (the 20th day of Boedromion) : Bat- 

tie at Salamis. Polyajn. III. 11 ; Herod. VIII. 
113 ; Par. Marb. Ep. 51. 



APPENDIX. 



223 



B.C. 

476. 



Oljrmp. 
75 2. 



465. 78, 



464. 



462. 78, 3. 



457. 79,4. 



453. 
452. 



81,1. 



443. 83, 3. 



441. 
431. 



83,4. 
86,3. 



August 2d, 1^ 30' : Eclipse of the sun near 
Corinth, ( ^ 5° west). Her. IX. 10. 
August 4th, (4th Boedromion) ; Battles at Pla- 
tsese and Mycale. Plut. Arist. 19. 
Mardonius in Athens, even before the battle of 
Platffiae. Herod. IX. 3. 

Ezra conducts a colony into Judea. Joseph. 
Ant. XI. 5, 1. 

Arch. Lysistratus. Diod. XI. 66. 
Kal. August ; Coss. T. Quinct. Capitol. Barba- 
tus II. ; Q. Servil. Prise. Structus. Liv. II. 64. 
Decemb. 25th, 20*^ : Total eclipse of the sun 
in Greece, (S| 11° west), Pind. in Dionys. 
Hal. p. 167. 

(Halley's) Comet visible in the time of the 
said eclipse of the sun. Plin. H. IS". II. 59. 
Siege of Naxos. — Battle at Eurymedon. Thuc. 
I. 98. 100. 

Xerxes dies, succeeded by Artabanus and Ar- 
taxerxes Longimanus soon after. Ptol. Can. 
April 30th, l*^ 30' : Eclipse of the sun in 
Greece, {1y 1° east). Fast. Sic. ad Olymp. 
78, 4. (Perhaps he means the eclipse of the 
sun 460 B. C, March 9th, 23'"). 
Arch. Philocles. Diod. XL 78 ; Plut. Mor. 
835. 

Dec. 27th, B^ 45' : Total eclipse of the sun in 
Athens, ("^ 11° east). Euseb. ad 01. 49, 4. 
instead of 01. 80, 1. 

Kal. Aug. : Coss. M. Yaler. Maximus, Spur. 
Virgin. Tricost. Ccelimont. Liv. HI. 31. 
Ludi saeculares celebrated under the said Con- 
suls. Censor. De D. N. 17 ; Euseb. Chron. 
ad. 01. 81, 4. 

Arch. Lysimachides. Diod. XTT. 22 ; Aris- 
toph. Vesp. Schol. 

Pericles conquers Euboea again. Pausan. V. 
23, 3. 

Id. Dec. Coss. Agrippe Fur. Medullus Fusus, 
T. Quinct. Capit. Barbatus. lY. Liv. III. 66. 
April (Xisan) : Nehemiah conducts a colony 
into Jerusalem during the 20th year of Ar- 
taxerxes. — Xeh. 2, 1. ^ 

Archon Anonymus, (?Pisander), whom the 
Parian Marble puts between 01. 84, 3 and 01 
86, 4 ; but Diodor. refers to the year 412 B. C. 
Ambassady of Corcyra and Corinth in Athens 
Thuc. I. 31. 

Id. Dec. : Tribb. mil. M. Mart. Capitolin., 
Serg. Cornel. Cossus. cet. Liv. TV. 23. 



U. C. 

276. 



A.M. 

5394 



287. 5405 



288. 5406 



291. 5409 



295. 5413 



299. 
300. 



5417 
5418 



309. 5427 



311. 
321. 



5429 
5439 



224 APPENDIX. 



B.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

430. 86, 3. Spring : Sea-figlit near Corcyra. Thue. I. 46. 322. 5440 

... 86, 4. Arch. Pythador I. Thiic. II. 2 ; Diod. XII. 36 

... ... Battle at Potidsea 6 months before the begin- 

' ning of the Peloponnesian war, according to 

the reckoning of the Lacedaemonians and of 

Xenophon. Thuc. IP. 2. 
... Sept. : Ephor ^nesias in Sparta. Thuc. II 

2, 1 ; Xenoph. Hell. II. 3, 9. 
Id. Dec. : Tribb. mill. M. Fab. Fibulan., M 

Foslius Flaccinator, cet. Liv. IV. 25. 
429. 86, 4. Jan. 26th, 22h : Eclipse of the sun in Athens, 323. 5441 

(^ 5° west). Thuc. II. 28. 
... ... May : Potidsea assailed by the Thebans. Thuc 

II. 2. Beginning of the Peloponnesian war 

on the Lacedemonian side. 

... 87, 1. Archon Apseudes. Diod. Sic. XII. 36. 

Sept. : Ephor Brasidas. Xen. Hell. II. 3, 9 

... The Athenians make an alliance with Sitalces, 

King of Thracia. Thuc. II. 29. 
428. 87, 1. February 22d, (21st Elaphebolion) : Begin- 424. 6442 

ning of the Peloponnesian war on the Athe- 
nian side, lasting therefore only 27 years. 

Thuc. II. 2. 
... ... May 13th, (11th Scirophorion), evening : the . 

true new moon visible. 
... ... May 15th, (13th Scirophorion): the crescent 

is visible in Athens, with which Medon's lunar 

calendar began. Diod. XII. 36. 
June 28th, (21st Phamenoth), at 4 A. M. ; Me- 

ton and Euctemon observe the summer sol- 
stice. Ptol. Aim. III. 2. 
... 87, 2. July 2d : Beginning of the semaster %c«/xo)v. 

Thuc. II. 33 seq. 
... Archon Euthydemus. Diod. XII. 35 ; Athen. 

V. 217. 

Sept. : Ephor Isanor. Xenoph. HeU. II. 3, 19. 

... ... Id. Dec. : Coss. Tit. Quinct. Pennus Cincinn., 

C. Jul. Mento. Liv. IV. 26. 
427. 87, 2. January : Beginning of the 2d year of the 325. 5443 

Peloponnesian war with the Athenians, the 

3d with the Lacedaemonians. Thuc. II. 47. 
426. 87, 3. May 21st, IQ^ P. T. : Eclipse of the sun, nearly 326. 5444 

total in Athens, {Is 1° east). Cic. R. P. 1. 16 ; 

Plut. Per. c. 35. 
422. 88, 3. January : The ^epos and the 7th year of the 330. 5448 

Peloponnesian war begin. Thuc. IV. 1. 
88, 4. July : The semester xtinwv begins. Thuc. 

IV. 50. 
... ... Arch. Stratocles. Diod. XII. 60 ; Aristoph. 

TS"ub. Schol. 580. 



APPENDIX. 225 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

422. 88, 4. August 5th, (Boedromion) : Cleon extraordi- 330. 5448 

narily elected Strategus. Arist. Nub., 580 

Schol. 
... ... August 18th, 15^^ : Eclipse of the moon ( ^ 

12° east), in the Boedromion during Cleon's 

election. Arist. Nub. 580. Schol. 
... ... Artaxerxes Longimanus dies, followed by Xer- 

xes II. Thuc. IV. 50. 
421. 88, 4. January : The 8th year and the 6ipos of the 331. 5449 

Peloponnesian war begin. Thuc. IV. 52. 
January 28th, 4^ P. M. : Partial eclipse of the 

sun in Athens, {Is 25°, ccr. 20° east). Thuc. 

IV. 52. 
... ... Darius ISTothus, after Sogdian's death. King 

of Persia. Diod. XII. 71. 
89, 1. Arch. Isarchus. Diod. XII. 65 ; Argum 

Arist. Nub. 
420. 89, 1. January : The 9th year of the Peloponnesian 332. 5450 

war begins. Thuc. IV. 117. 
... ... Cleon regularly elected Strategus. Thuc. IV 

122. 
... ... January 18th, (Anthesterion 16th), 2^ P. M. : 

Eclipse of the sun in Athens, C^ 17°, cor. 11° 

east). Arist. Nub. 580 ; Schol. in Scaliger's 

Synagogue. 
... ... February 2d, 6^ : Total eclipse of the moon in 

Athens, {Is 2° east, cor. 3° west). Aristoph. 

Nub. 580. 
410. 91, 3. January : The 19th year of the Peloponnesian 342. 5460 

war begins. Thuc. VII. 19, 542. 
... 91, 4. July 8th, 7'' 45' : Total eclipse in Sicily, {^ 

7°, cor. 2° east). 
... ... Destruction of the Attic army in Sicily on the 

27th of Carneius. Thuc. VII. 50 ; Plut. Nic. 

23. 
408. 92, 2. June 1st : The true new moon rises, according 344. 5462 

to which tlie lunar month Hecatombaeon be- 
gins on the 3d day of June, on which the 1st 

Prytany commences. Corp. Jusc. Vol. I. P. 

II. No. 107. 148. 
... ... June 10th, (Metageitnion 9th). The 2d Pry- 

tany begins. Corp. Jusc. Vol. I. P. II. No. 

107. 148. 
... ... Note. — The history of the second part (;;^£j/ia)i') 

of the 20th year of the Peloponnesian war was 

described in the first pages of Xenophon's 

Hellenica ; it has, however, perished together 

with the history of the following 6ipos. 
407. 92, 2. January : The "Sipog of the 20th year of the 345. 5463 

Peloponnesian war begins, which history was 

10* 



226 APPENDIX. 



B.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

lost with Xenophon's introduction to his Hel- 

lenica. 
403. 93, 2. January : The 26th year of the Peloponnesian 449. 5467 

war (the 27th in Sparta) begins. Xenoph. 

HeU. I. 6, 1. 
February 23d, 6^ 30' : Eclipse of the moon 

in Athens, {Is 9°, cor. 4° east). Xen. Hell. I. 

6,1. 
402. 93, 3. January : The 27th (28th) year of the war 350. 5468 

begins. Xenoph, H. II. 1, 10. 
... ... Battle at ^gos Potamus. Xenoph. Hell. 11. 

1, 27 ; Diod. XIII. 104. 
401. 93, 4. January 10th, 9^ A. M. : Eclipse of the sun 351. 5469 

{Is 10°, cor. 5° east). Xen. Hell. II. 3, 4. 
... ... March 19th, (Munychion 16th) : Destruction 

of the Pyrffius three weeks after the peace. 

Plut. Lys. 15. The end of the war, which, 

according to the Athenians and Thucydides, 

lasted twenty- seyen years. 
... 94, 1. Arch. Euctides. Diod. XIY. 12; Athen 

XIII. 577. 

. .. ... Darius Nothus dies, followed by Artaxerxes ., ... 

Mnemon. Diod. XIII. 104. 
... ... Lysander, after having subjugated the Athe- 

nian allies, returns to Sparta. Thuc. Y. 26. 
... ... The Peloponnesian war ended, which, accord- . . ... 

ing to the Lacedsemoniana and Xenophon, 

lasted twenty-eight years and six months. 
400. 94, 2. Arch. Micon. Par." Marb. Ep. 65. Diodor. 352. 5470 

XIV. 17. ^ , 

... ... July 1st, 17'' 45' : Total eclipse of the sun at 

Rome, (^1° east, cor. 4° west). Cic. R. P. 

I. 16 ad U. C. 350 (Dionys.) 
396. 95, 2. Arch. Ithycles. Diod. Sic. L. XIV. c. 44. 356. 5474 
... ... Kal. Octob. : Tribb. mil. Cn. Genuc. Augu- 

rin., M. Pompon, cet. Liv. V. 13 ; Diod. 

XIV. 54. 
... ... Dec. 26th, (winter solstice) : Planetary con- 

stellation (Lectisternium). Liv. V. 13. ad. the 
■ said Tribb. mil. See Seyffarth, Berichtig. P. 

228. 
391. 96, 2. January : The first year of the Corinthian 361. 5479 

war begins. Diod. XIV. 86. 
... ... Agesilaus passes over the Hellespont. Plut 

Ages. 3, 1 ; Nepos, Ages. 3. 
96, 3. June 16th, nearly total eclipse of the sun in 

Boeotia, C^ 16°, cor. 10° east). Xen. Hell. 

IV. 3, 10. 
387. 97, 3. Arch. Pyrrhion (Pyrgion). Dion. Halic. I. 365. 5483 

74. 



APPENDIX. 227 



B.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

387. 97, 3. Prid Id. Quinetil. : Battle near Allia ; the 365. 5483 

Gauls go towards Rome. Liv. V. 54. 
385. 98, 1. Nepherites, first King of Manetho's XXIX. 367. 5485 

Dyn. reigns about this time. 
381. 99, 1. Arch. Phanostratus. Diod. XV. 15. 371. 5489 
Dec. 12th, 9^ 30' : Eclipse of the moon in 

Babylon. Ptol. Aim. IV. 10. 
380. 99, 1. June 6th, 7*^ 45' : Eclipse of the moon in Baby- 3^2. 5490 

ion. Ptol. Aim. IV. 10. 
379. 99, 2. May 26th, 12 ^ : Eclipse of the moon in Baby- 373. 5491 

Ion. Ptol. Aim. IV. 10. 
361. 104, 1. Perdiccas, King of Macedonia. Diod. XVI. 2. 391. 6509 
... ... Battle near Olympia during the Olympian . . .^ . 

games. Xen. HeU. VII. 4, 29. 
360. 104, 1. Pelopidas conducts his third expedition into 392. 5510 

Thessalia. Diod. XV. 80. 
... ... May 12th, 3*^ : Great eclipse of the sun in 

Bceotia (^ 1°, cor. 6° west), while Pelopidas 

dies. Plut. Pelop. 31. 
356. 105, 1. Philip of Macedonia, now 23 years old, King 396. 6514 

of Macedonia. Diod. XVI. 2 ; Laert. II. 56. 
... - ... February 28th, 23'' : Total eclipse of the sun 

in Syracuse. Plut. Dion. c. 19. 
. . . 105, 2. August 9th, 6"^ 45' : Eclipse of the moon in 

Zacynthus. Plut. l^ik. 23. 
354. 105, 3. Artaxerxes Mnemon dies, succeeded by Ochus. 398. 6516 

Par. Marb. — The first year of the Bellum 

sociale. 
353. 105, 4. May 25th, 9^ : Astronomical new moon two 399. 5517 

days before the lunar month Hecatombseon. 
. . . 106, 1. June 6 — 11th, i. e., lunar Hecatombseon 11 — 

16th : The Olympic games celebrated under 

the Archon Elpihes. Plut. Alex. 3. 
... ... June 7th, i. e., the 6th day of the solar month 

Hecatombseon : Alexander M. born during 

the Olympian games under Arch. Elpines. 

Plut. Al. 3 ; Cic. Div. I. 23. 
340. 109, 2. Arch. Pythodotus. Diod. XVI. 70 ; Laert 412. 5530 

V. 10. 
... . , , Sept. 25th, IS*" : Eclipse of the sun in Rome 

(75 11°, cor. 7° east). Liv. VII. 28; Jul. 
. Obs. c. 22. 
335. 110, 3. Arch. Chserondas. Diod. XVI. 84 ; ^sch. 417. 6536 

p. 57. 
... July 8th, (Metageitnion 7th) : Battle at Chse- 

ronea. Diod. XVI. 84 ; Plut. Cam. 19. 
333. Ill, 1. Arch. Pythodemus. Diod. XVI. 91 ; Arrian. 419. 6537 

... ... Kal. Jul. : Coss. L. Papir. Crassus, Q. Duilius 

Liv. VIII. 16; Polvb. II. 19, 



228 



APFENDIX. 



B.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

333. Ill, 1. Darius Codomannus, successor of Arses, the 419. 5537 
last King of Persia. Ptol. Can. 

... ... Philip of Macedonia dies; Alexander Mag., 

now 20 years old, reigns. Plut. Al. 11 ; Ar- 
rian. 1, 1. 

331. Ill, 2. April 8th, (Thargelion 6th) : Battle on the 421. 5539 
Granicus. Plut. Cam. 19. 

330. 111,4. Arch. ]Slcrocrates. Diod. XVII. 19; Arr. II. 11. 422. 5540 

... ... Kal. Jul. : Coss. A. Corn. Cossus Arvina II., 

Cn. Domit. Calvinus. Liv. VIII. 17 ; Diod. 
XVII. 62. 

Note. — Between these and the preceding Con- 
suls, Petavius, in spite of all ancient histori- 
ans, inserted a pair of Consuls, and thus he 
put all the preceding events of Roman history 
too high by one year. 

'Sept. 20th, 7^ 80' (Boedromion 24th) : Eclipse 

of the moon in Rome, (^ 4°, cor. 0° east). 
Plin. H. ]!s". II. 70 (hora secunda noctis). 

... ... Oct. (Msemacterion) : Battle near Issus. Ar- 

rian. II. 11, 14. 

, , , ... Dec. : Alexander M. besieges Tyre in the midst 

of the winter, and takes it after 7 months. 
Plut. Al. c. 24. 

... ... Alexander M. allows the Samaritans to build 

the temple of Garizim. Joseph. Ant. XL 8, 4. 

329. Ill, 4. March, (Munychion) : Alexander takes Gaza 423. 5541 
during the Isthmia sestiva, whence he pro- 
ceeds to Egypt, and founds Alexandria. Curt. 
IV. 5, 11 ; Arrian. III. 1. 

328. 112, 2. Archon Aristophanes. Arrian. III. 7, 1. 15. 424. 5542 

... ... Kal. Jul.: Coss. L. Papirius Crassus II., L 

Plautin. Venno. Liv. VIII. 19. 

August 30th, (Pyanepsion) 12^ P. T. : Eclipse 

of the moon in Arbela during sunrise ( ^ 12°, 
cor. 16° west), 11 days before the battle of 
Arbela. Cic. Div. I. 53 ; Arrian. III. 7, 6. 

... ... Sept. 10th : Battle of Arbela, 11 days after an 

eclipse of the moon during sunrise. Arrian. 
III. 6, 7 ; Plut. Al. 81. 

821. 114, 1. Arch. Hegesias. Arr. VII. 28, 1.— Alexander 431. 5549 
M. proclaims amnesty during the Olympian 
games. Diod. XVIII. 8. 

320. 114. 1. April 8th, (Thargelion 6th) : Alexander M. 432. 5550 
dies according to ^lian. V. H. II. 25, and Ar- 
rian. VII. 28. 

... ... June 29th» CDsesius 28th) : Alexander M. dies 

according to Joseph, c. Ap. I. 22 ; Euseb. D. 
E. I., and Diod. XVIII. 19, under the Archon 
Hegesias in 01. 114, 1. 



APPENDIX. 229 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

320. 114, 1. July 2d : Arch. Kepliisodor. Diod. XVIII. 2 ; 432. 5550 

Dionys. Am. 728. 
... Renewal of an Apis-Period, while Ptolemaeus 

Lagi occupies Egypt. Diodor. I. 84. P. 25 B. 
310. 116, 3. March 6th, (Nisan 1st) : Beginning of the Se- 442. 5560 

lucidian Era in the 1st book of the Maccabees. 
... ... Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees born, 

who lives 146 years. 1 Mace. 1, 70. 
... 116, 4. Arch. Theophrastus. Diod. XIX. 73 ; Dio- 

nys. Din. 650. 
Sept. 29th, (Thishri 1st): Beginning of the 

Seleucidian Era in the 2d book of the Macca- 
bees, and of the Babylonian Era in the Alma- 
gest. Comp. Ideler, Chronol. I. 223. 
306. 117, 3. Arch. Hieromneon. Diod. XX. 3 ; Dion. 446. 5563 

Din. 650. 
... ... June 13th, 22'* : Total eclipse of the sun be- 

tween Carthage and Syracuse, (^0° 43', cor. 

4° 27' west), under the Arch. Hieromneon in 

the 7th year of Agathocles. Diod. XX. 5 ; 

Justin. H. XXII. 6. 
July 2d : Arch. Demetrius. Diod. XX. 27 ; . . ... 

Dion. Din. 650. 
293. 120, 4. Coss. App. Claud. Casus II., L. Volumn. 459. 5577 

Flamma Violens II. (since April of the pre- 
ceding year). Liv. X. 15. 
... March 23d, 23'' : Eclipse of the sun in Rome 

(Is 12°, cor. 7° east). Liv. X. 23. 
282. 123. 4. Ptolemseus Philadelphus reigns in Egypt. 470. 5588 

Ptol. Can. 
262. 128, 4. The first Punic war begins. Liv. XXX. 1. 490. 5608 
243. 133, 2. Ptolemseus Evergeta I. reigns in Egypt. 509. 5727 

Ptol. Can. 
226. 137, 3. April 11th : Mercury (Phoenix) passes over 526. 5644 

the disc of the sun. Tac. Ann. VI. 28. 
219. 139, 3. Idus Mart. : Coss. P. Corn. Seipio Asina, M. 533. 5651 

Minuc. Rufus. Eutrop. III. 7. 
... ... Ptolemaeus Philadelphus reigns in Egypt 

Ptol. Canon. 
'217. 139, 4. Id. Mart. : Coss. M. Liv. Salinator, L. ^mil. 535. 5653 

Paulus. Zon. VIII. 20. 
... March 9th, 4'' P. T. : Eclipse of the moon in 

Mysia, C^ 3°, cor. 7° west). Polyb. V. 78. 
... ... Antiochus M. conquers Palestine, Hannibal 

takes Saguntum. Polyb. V. 66 ; III. 17. 
216. 140, 1. The 2d Punic war begins. Cossiad. ad. Coss. 536. 5654 

217. 
... ... February 11th, 2''. Eclipse of the sun in 

Rome, (15 6°, cor. 2" east). Liv. XXII. 1. 
... ... July : Hannibal proceeds from Carthage-Nova 



230 APPENDIX. 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

and passing over the Alps lie enters Italy after 

7 months. Liv. XXI. 35, 38. 
216. 140, 1. Dec. 24th, (Bruma) : Planetary configuration 536. 5654 

(Lectisternium) observed and represented for 

the purpose of propitiating the gods. Liv. 

XXII. 10. 
215. 140, 2. Id. Mart. Cosa. Cn. Serv. Giminus, C. Flami- 537. 5655 

nius II. Liv. XXI. 15. 
. . . 140, 3. Battles on the Ticinus and the Trebia. Liv. 

XXI. 39. 52. 

214. . . . Dictator Q. F. Maximus Verrucossus. Liv. 538. 6656 

XXII. 8. 

Id. Mart. : Coss. L. ^mil. Pallus II., C. Ter. 

Varro. Liv. XXII. 34. 
. . . 140, 4. Summer solstice, IX. Kal. Jul. : Battle on the 

Trasimenian Lake, a short time before the 

JSTemean games. Liv. XXII. 34 ; Polyb. V. 

101, 6. 
... ... August 2d : Battle near Cannse. Macrob. 

Sat. 1, 6 ; Liv. XXIII. 30 ; XXII. 43 ; Polyb. 

III. 118, 10. 

205. 142, 4. Id. Mart. : Coss. C. CI. iTero, M. Liv. Salina- 647. 56^5 

tor. Liv. XXVII. 34. 
. . . 143, 1. Celebration of the Olympian games, to which 

these Consuls send an embassy. Liv. 

XXVII. 35 ; XXVIII. 7 ; Polyb. XL 5. 
202. 143, 3. Id. Mart. : Coss. M. Cornel. Cethegus, P. 550. 5668 

Sempronius. Liv. XXIX. 11. 
... ... Ptolemseus Epiphanes reigns in Egypt. Ptol. 

Can. 
201 143, 4. Id. Mart. : Coss. Cn. Servil, Csepio, C. Servil. 651. 6669 

Liv. XXIX. 38. 
... 144,1. Octob. 18th, 23i> : Total eclipse of the sun 

near Zama, (^2° 51', cor. 7° 6' west). Zo- 

nar. IX. 14. 
199 1U,2,. March 3d, 22h : Partial eclipse of the sun 553. 6671 

near Rome, (jy 13°, cor. 9' east). Liv. XXX. 

38. " 
... ... Battle near Zama on the same day. Zonar. 

IX. 14 ; Jul. Obseq. c. 45 ; Liv. XXX. 29. 
. . . 144, 3. The 2d Punic war finished. Liv. XXX. 43 ; 

XXXI. 1. 4. 
198. ... Id. Mart. : Coss. P. Sulp. Galba Max. II., C. 554. 5672 

Aurel. Cotta. Liv. XXX. 4. 

The Phillippian war begins. Liv. XXXI. 5. 22. 

. . . 144, 4. Sept. 1st, 4.^ P. T. : Eclipse of the moon in 

Alexandria (^ 11°, cor. 15° west), in the 54th 

year of the 2d Kallippian Period. Ptol. Aim. 

IV. 10. 

197. 145, 1. July 23d, 11M5': Eclipse of the moon at 555. 5673 



APPENDIX. 231 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

Alexandria in the 55th year of the 2d Kalip- 

pian Period, (^ll"", cor. 7° east). Ptol. Can. 

IV. 10. 
196. 145, 1. January 16th, 5^ 30' : Eclipse of the moon at 556. 5674 

Alexandria in the 55th year of the 2d Kalip- 

pian Period. Ptol. Aim. lY. 10. 
187. 147, 2. Id. Mart. : Coss. Cn. Manl. Yulso, M. Fvdv. 565. 5683 

' Ifobilior. Liv. XXXYII. 47 ; XXXYIII. 4. 
. . . 147, 3. July 16th, 20'' : Eclipse of the son at Rome, 

(|5 4°, cor. 1° east). Liv. XXXYU. 4. * 
186. . . . January 10th, 23'^ : Eclipse of the sun at 566. 6684 

Rome, ( 9^ 3°, cor. 7° west). Liv. XXXYIII. 36. 
178. 149, 4. Ptolemseus Philometor reigns at Egypt. Ptol. 574. 5692 

"Can. 
173. 150, 4. Antiochus Epiphanes, successor of Salencus 579. 6697 

Philopeter, King of Syria, in ^r. Seleucid. 

137. 1 Maccab. 1, 11. 
171. 151, 3. Sept. 2d, lli^ 30' : Eclipse of the moon in Al- 581. 6699 

exandria, in the 7th year of Ptol. Philometor. 

Ptol. Aim. YI. 5. 
167. 152, 3. June 21st, 7^ 45' : Eclipse of the moon in 585. 5703 

Macedonia, {Is 3° east, cor. 1° west). Cic. R. 

P. I. 15 ; Plut. ^n. 17 ; Yaler. Max. XL 1. 
166. 152, 4. June 10th, 13^ 30' : Lunar ecUpse in Macedo- 586. 5704 

nia, {Is 5°, cor. 8° west), on the 3d Roman 

Sept. (III. Non. Sept.), from the 2d to the 3d 

hour of the night, on the day before the battle 

at Pydna against Perseus. Liv. XLIY. 37 ; 

Eutrop. lY. 7. 
163. 153, 2. Id. Mart. : Coss. T. Manl. Torquatus, Cn. Oc- 588. 5707 

tavius. Jul. Obseq. 72. 
. . . 153, 3. Judas Maccabi defeats the army of Lysias. 1 

Mace. 4, 35. 
... ... Dec. 23d, (winter solstice), Kislev. 25th, ^r 

Sil. 148 ; Judas Maccabi purifies the Temple 

at Jerusalem. 1 Mace. 5, 22. 
147 157, 2. Kal. Jan. : Coss. L. Marcius Censorinus, M. 605. 5723 

Manlius. Liv. Ep. 49 ; Yellej. I. 13. 
. . ... The 3d Punic war begins. Lir. Ep. 49 ; Ap- 

plan. Pun. 97. 
144. 158, 1. Kal. Jan. : Coss. Cn. Corn. Lentutus, L. Mum- 608. 5726 

mius Achaicus. Liv. Ep. 52. 
... Carthage destroyed. Appian. Pun. 127 ; 

Polvb. XXXIX. 1. 
138. 159, 3. KaL Jan. : C. Lsetius Sapiens, Q. Servil. Cse- 614. 5732 

pio. Liv. Ep. 54. 
... ... June 1st, 10^ lo' : Lunar eclipse in Rhodus, 

(Is 2°, cor. 6° west), in the 37th rear of the 

3d Kalippian Period. Ptol. Alm!^ YI. 5. 
137. 160, 1. Antiochus Sidetes, King of Syria, .Er. Sel. 610. 5733 



232 APPENDIX. 



B.C. qiymp. U. C. A.M. 

174. 1 Mace. 14, 10. (According to Euseb. 
Chron. Sidetes reigned two years later. 

124. 163, 1. ^r. Sileuc. 186 : The last coins of Antiochus 628. 5746 
Sidetes are stamped. Eckhel D. IST. III. 236. 

... ... May lOtli, (Sivan 6th) : Pentecost happened 

on a Sunday, wherefore" Hyrcan and Sidetes 
repose two days. Joseph. Ant. XIII. 8, 4. 

. . . 163, 2. Hyrcan destroys the temple of Garizim after 

Sidetes' death. Joseph. Ant. XIII. 9, 1. 

114. 165, 4. Ptolem£eusSoterII.,KingofEgypt. Ptol. Can. 638. 5756 

105. 168, 1. Alexander I. and Cleopatra govern in Egypt 647. 5765 
during 18 years. Ptol. Can. 

... ... Marius being sent against Jugurtha. Sallust 

Jug. 73. 82 ; Plut. Mar. 8. 

102. 168, 4. Dec. 2d, 19^ : Total eclipse of the sun at 

Rome, (7jl5°, corr. 11° east), during the 3d 
hour of the day. Jul. Obseq. c. 103. 
97. 170, 1. July 23, (IV. Kal. Jul.) : C, Jul. C»sar born. 655. 5773 

Macrob. Sat. I. 12 ; Appian. B. C. II. 106. 
86. 172, 3. Mithridates conquers Asia. Liv. Ep. 77. 666. 5784 
-. . . ... The Marsian war ends. Liv. Ep. 76. 80. 

. . . 172, 4. The first civil war begins. Liv. Ep. 79. 

78. 174, 3. Alexander II. King of Egypt. Ptol. Can. 674. 5792 
76. 175, 1. Sulla dies, C. J. Caesar goes back to Eome. 676. 5794 

Appian. B. C. I. 105 ; Suet. Cses. 3. 
63. 178, 2. Auletes, l^eo-Dionysus, succeeds Alexander 689. 5807 
II., King of Egypt. Cic. Legg. agrar. II. 17. 

... 178,3. Catalinian conspiration. Sail. Catil. 18. 

... ... Pompejus M. makes war against the Albani 

and Illyrians. Plut. Pomp. 34 ; Liv. Ep. 101 ; 
Dio. XXXVII. 1. 
62. 178, 4. Octob. 27th, 7"^ : Total eclipse of the moon at 6^0. 5808 
Rome, C^ 0°, cor. 3° west), ^ which happened 
during Cicero's Consulate, because the Roman 
lunar calendar then commenced three months 
before the solar calendar. Cic. Di consul, sua 
II. 17. 

... ... Dec. 23d, (Bruma) : Planetary configuration 

represented on the Ara Albani, in the begin- 
ning of the year of Augustus' birth. Comp. 
Seyffarth, Berichtigungen, p. 239. 
61. 179, 1. IX. Kal. Oct., i. e., the month August : The 691. 5809 
emperor Augustus born. Suet. Octav. 5. 

... ... Septemb. 11th, (Thishri 10th), Saturday : 

Pompejus takes the Temple of Jerusalem. Jo- 
seph. B. 7. V. 9, 4 ; Ant. XIV. 4, 3. 16, 4. 

... ... Hyrcan reestablished. Aristabul brought to 

Rome. Joseph. Ant. XX. 10. 
61 179, 1. Cicero detects the second Catilinian conspira- 671. 5809 
tion. Cic. Cat. 1. c. 3 ; Sallust. Cat. 17. 



APPENDIX. 233 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

60. 179, 1. March 27th, 3^ 45' : Solar eclipse at the time 692. 5810 
of sunset at Rome, (^ 0", cor. 3° west), dur- 
ing which Possidonius discovered a Comet 
near the sun. Jul. Obseq. c. 123. In conse- 
quence of incorrect chronological tables, Jul. 
Obseq. puts the said eclipse two years later. 
56. 180, 1. March, (V. Kal. April) : The Galilean wars 696. 5814 
begin. Gees. B. G. I. 6. 

... ... April : Cicero is exiled for one year. Cic 

Ad Fam. XIV. 4, 2. 
49. 182, 1. Dec. 16th : The astronomicul new moon, two 703. 5821 

days before the Roman Kalendse Januarii. 
48. 182, 2. Dec. 5th : Astronomical new moon, therefore 704. 5822 
the Kalendse Januarii began on the 8th day 
of Dec. 
47. 182, 2. January 3d, 21i» : Total eclipse of the sun at 705. 6823 
Rome, (y cor. 12° east). Lucan. Pharsal. I. 
535 ; Diod. 41, 14 ; Petron. Sat. 122, 124. 

... ... January 18th, 9'' • Total eclipse of the moon 

at Rome, (^ cor. 3° west). Lucan. Phars. I. 
535. 

... 182, 3. Ptolemseus Neo-Dionysus die&, succeeded by 

Cleopatra, who reigns alone. Caes. Bell. Civ. 
III. 108. 

... " ... Nov. 24th : Astronomical new moon, two . . ... 
days before the Roman Kalendse Januarii. 

... ... Csesar's quinquennial monarchy begins. Dio 

42, 20 ; Cassiador adU. C. 706 (Cato) ; Euseb. 
Chron. Armen. II. 363. 
46. 182, 3. January 1st, (Prid. Non. Febr.) : Cicero in 706. 5824 
company with Pompejus. Cic. Ad. Att. XI. 

. . . 182, 4. June 28th, (Y. Id. Sept.) : Battle at Pharsalus 

Cses. B. C. 3, 85 ; Murator. Fast. 1. 1. 
... ... August 18th, (Prid. hal. Oct.) : Pompejus dies 

in Egypt, the day before his 59th birth day. 

Cffis. B. C. 3, 104; Vcllej. 2, 53. 
... ... Nov. 13th, 23^ : Astronomical new moon in 

Rome, two days before the Kalendse Januar. 
45. . . . January 12th, 9*^ : Astronomical new moon in 707. 5825 

Rome, two days before the Roman lunar 

month. 

... ... January 15th : Kalendse Martii begin. 

44. . . . January 1st, 12'' : Astronomical new moon at 708. 5826 

Rome, therefore the Kal. Mart, began on the 

4th of January. 
. . . 183, 2. Csesar is Cos. IV. designatus, and at the same 

time Dictat. III. design. Dio. 43, 14. 
44. 183, 2. Oct. 24th: Kal. Jan., two days after the true 708. 5826 

new moon, which took place on the 22d of 



234 APPENDIX. 



B.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

Oct. at noon. Caesar enters his IV th' Consu- 
late and at the same time his Hid annual Dic- 
tatura. 

44. 183,2. April 9th, (IV. Id. Quinctil.) : Caesar enters 708. 5826 

the 55th year of his life. 

45. 183, 2. July : It is resolved in the Comitia, to confer 709. 5827 

upon Caesar a decennial Consulate, on this ac- 
count the Fasti Capitulini reckon Caesar's two 
last Consulates for one. Dio. 43, 46 ; Appi- 
an. B. C. 2, 106. 

... ... Caesar's Edict concerning the introduction of 

the Julian solar year. Censor, c. 20 ; Plut. 
Cffis. 59. 

,. ; ... Oct. 11th : Astronomical new moon two days 

before the Kalendae Januarii of the annus eon- 
fusionis. 

... ... Kal. Jan. (Octob. 13th) : Caesar enters his 5th 

Consulate, and at the same time the 4th annual 
Dictatura. This is the first year of Caesar's 
decennial Consulate and of his Dictatura per- 
petua. — M. -^mil. Lepidus is Mag. Equit. 
Cic. Ad. Att. XIII. 47. 
42. 183. 4. Dee. 28th, 11^ : The astronomical new moon 710. 5828 
takes place at Rome, two days before the 
commencement of the first Julian year. 
41. ... January 1st : The crescent is visible after sun- 711. 5829 
set at Rome, therefore the first of January of 
the first Julian year began at midnight. Ma- 
crob. Sat. 1, 4 ; Caesar's coins with the cres- 
cent in respect to this day. Eckel, Dact. 
ITum. VI. 9. 

March 13th, l'' 45' P. T. : Total eclipse of the 

moon, (^ 7°, cor. 4° east), previous to Caesar's 
assassination, which was visible in the east of 
the Roman empire. Ovid. Met. XV. 789. 
,. "... March 15th, one hour after midnight: Cal- .. ••• 
purnia is awaked by the full light of the moon 
in the night before Caesar's assassination. Plat. 
Cses. 63 ; Suet. Cas. 63 ; Dio. 44, 17 ; Jul. 
Obseq. 127. 

... ... March 15th, at 11 A.M. : Caesar assassinated .. ••• 

in his 56th year. Cic. ad. Att. 15 ; 1. 11. 12. 
20 ; Ovid. Fast. 3, 697. 

. , . ... May : Augustus celebrates ludi funerales for . . , , , 

Caesar, during which a Comet was visible at 
Rome like the one in China, (Mem. de mathe- 
mat.. Par. 1785. T. X. P. 42). Suet. Cses, 88; 
Sinec. Q. X. VII. 17. 

.. 184, 1. June 6— 11th, (Hccatorabaeon 11— 16th) : The 

Olympian games took place a short time 



APPENDIX. ■ ' 235 



B. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

after Caesar's death. Cic. "Ad. Att. 15, 5. 24. 
16, 7. 
40. ... Kal. Jan. : Coss. C. Vibius Ponsa, A. Hirtius. 712. 6830 
37. 184, 4. Herod M. obtains the rule over the kingdom of 715. 5833 
Judsea, by the influence of Augustus, and reigns 
37 years from that time. Joseph. Ant. XIV. 
14, 4; XVII. 8, 1. 
34. 185, 4. Sept. 11th, (Hyperbor. 10th), Saturday : Her- 718. 5836 
od takes Jerusalem on the said Saturday, (Dio. 
XLIV. 22), his Coss. Joseph. Ant. XIV. 16, 
4 ; Liv. Ep. 128. 
28. 187, 2. August ^9th, (the 1st day of the Alexandrian 724. 5842 
Thoth) : The ^ra Actiaca or Augusti begins 
in Egypt. Censor. 21. 

... ... Sept. 2d : Battle at Actium. Dio. Coss. LI. 1 

27. 187, 3. August 1st : Antonius dies, and Cleopatra 725. 5843 
soon after. Plut. Ant. 86. , 

... ... Egypt becomes a Eoman province. Tac. An 

II. 59. 
24. 188 1. Octavian receives the ordinary title of Angus- 728. 5846 

tus in January of this year. Censorin D. N. 21. 
... ... The ^ra Augusti begins in Eome with An- . . ... 

gustus' 18th year of government since Cae- 
sar's death. Censorin. D. N. 21. 
19. 189, 3. A Census finished. Dio. LIV. 1 ; Vellej. II. 733. 5851 

95 ; Suet. Claud. 16. 
17. 189, 3. March 24th, (vernal equinox) : Herod founds 735. 5853 
the new temple at Jerusalem in his 18th year 
of government. Joseph. Ant. XV. 11, 5; B. 
J. I. 21. 
9. 191, 4. A Comet (Halley's) visible in Rome, (Dio. 1. 1.) 743. 5861 
and also in China. Comp. Hind, Notices of 
the astr. sol. Lond. 1850. P. 58. 

... 192,1. Herod, in the 25th year of his government, 

takes part in the Olympian games. Jos. B. J. 
I. 21, 8 ; Ant. XVL 3, 3. 5, 1. 3. 
8. 192, 2. Census ordained by Augustus, (Dio. LIV. 35), 744. 5862 
■which is finished in the year 5 B. C. Mon. 
Ancyr. II. 6. 

. . . 192, 2. Dec. 23d, (winter solstice) : Planetary con- 

figuration expressed on the Ara Capitolina, 
previous to the birth of Claudius. Se^^ff. Be- 
richtigungen. p. 224. 
7. 192, 2. March 22d, (vernal eqiiinox) : Planetary con- 745. 5863 
figuration on the Ara Borghese, previous to 
Claudius' birth-day. Seyff. Bericht. 246. 
6. 193, 1. Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter and of the 747. 5865 
other planets in the sign of Pisces, four years 
before Christ's birth. Abarbanel, Comm. ad 
Daniel : Ideler, Chron. II. 399. 



236 



APPENDIX. 



B.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

2. 193, 4. Sept. 28th, Saturday : Zacharias with the 750. 5868 
class of Abia begin the priestly service in the 
Temple of Jerusalem. Annunciation of John 
the Baptist's birth. Evang. Luke 1, 5. 
1. 193, 4. March 23d, (vernal equinox), Sunday : Mary's 751. 5869 
Annunciation. Luke 1, 26. 

. . . 194, 1. June 22d, (summer solstice), Sunday ; John 

the Baptist born. Luke 1, 5 seq. 

... ... Dec. 22d, winter solstice, Wednesday : Christ 

born in Bethlehem, four years after the Con- 
junction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces, . 
(Abarban. Com. Dan.), his Conf. (Clemens 
Al. Strom. I. 339. 340 ; Irenaius, Apol. II. 
53 ; Tertull. Adv. Jud. c. 8 ; Sulpic. S. H. 11. 
' 39), in the 41st year of Augustus, (Cassiador, 

Tertull. Ad. Jud.), the 28th after Cleopatra's 
death, (Euseb. H. E. I. 5). 



A. C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

0. 194, 1. January 1st: The Easter-canon of Dionysius 752. 6870 

Exiguus begins with this year, (Ideler, Chron. 

292. 357. 372), therefore the Dionysian Era, or 

Christian reckoning began with this very day. 
March 20th, (Nisan 15th) : The first Easter 

after the Christian Era. 
, , , ... March 22d, (Nisan 1st of the civil year) : The 

first year of Herod Antipas, Her. Archelaus, 

and Herod Phillippus ends. 

1. 194, 2. Kal. Jan. : Coss. Imp. C. Cses. Augustus 753. 6871 

XIII. , M. Plautius Silvanus. Dio. LV. Jud. ; 
Suet. Oct. 26. 

... ... January 1st : The 2d year of the Dionysian 

Era begins, therefore the 19th Sseculum began 
on the 1st of January, not 1801, but 1800 A. 
C, and so on. 
8. 196, 1. Herod Archelaus exiled. Dio. LV. 25. 27 ; 760. 6878 
Joseph. Ant. XVII. 13, 2; XVIII. 2, 1. 4, 6 
(in the 37th year after the battle of Actium). 
The Census of Quirinus ends. Joseph. Ant. 
XVIII. 2, 1. 
13. 197, 2. March 23d, (vernal equinox) : Planetary con- 765. 6883 
figuration at the Ara Capitolina at the com- 
mencement of Caligula's birth year. SeyfF. 
Bericht. p. 224. 
16. 197,4. Tiberius, being co-regent of Augustus, causes. 767. 6885 
a Census to be taken together with him. Dio. 
LVI. 28 ; Veil. II. 121. Suet. Tib. 21. 

, , . ... March 15th : The 57th year of Augustus' reign 

begins. 

. . . 198, 1. Sept..2d, %^ 15' A. M. P. T. : Total eclipse of 



APPENDIX. - 237 



A. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

the sun {Is 8°, cor 6'' east), in the year pre- 
ceding Augustus' death. Dio. LVI. 29 ; 
Euseb. Chron. ad 01. 198, 1 ; Hieron. p. 157 ; 
Euseb. Arm. p. 368. 

16. 198, 2. August 19th : Emperor Augustus dies, 76 7G8. 5886 

years old. Suet. Oct. 98. 100 ; Joseph. Ant. 
XVIII. 2, 2. 

17, 198, 2. January : Drusas and Germanicus go feo Pan- 769. 5887 

nonia and Germany for the purpose of sup- 
pressing the seditious legions. Tac. An. I. 50. 

... ... January 30th, between 6 and 9 P. M. : Great 

eclipse of the moon near Laj'bach, (^, 8°, cor. 
5° east), five months after Augustus died, end 
of the sedition of the Legions. Tac. An. I. 
28 ; Dio. Coss. LVII. 4. P. 522. 
19. 199, 1. Caiaphas, high priest elected in Jerusalem. 771. 5889 
Joseph. Ant. XVIII. 2, 2. 

29. 201, 2. The 15th year of Tiberius' reign began in 781. 5899 

Palestine. 

. . . 201, 3. June 22d, summer solstice : John the Baptist 

thirty years old, and began his prophetic 
ministry. Luke 2, 1. 

... ... 'Nov. 13th, in the 15th year of Tiberius : 

Christ, being almost 30 years old, is baptized 
by John, 40 days before he enters his priest- 
hood. Luke 3, 1 ; Zonar. X. 39. p. 544. 

... ... Dec. 22d, (winter solstice) : Christ 30 years 

old, enters upon his priestly oflBce. 

30. 201, 3. March 20th, (Xisan loth) : The first Easter 782. 5900 

during Christ's prophetic office, in the 47th 
year after the beginning of the Herodian Tem- 
ple. John 2, 18. 13. 20. Comp. 17 B. C. 
33. 202, 2. March 19th, (Nisan 14th), Thursday : Christ 785. 5903 
dies for us upon the cross, (Matt. 27, 45 ; Mark 
15, 33 ; Luke 23, 44 ; John 19, 30), his coss. 
(Epiphan. Hser. P. 446 ; Malala, Chron. 10. 
P. 309 ; Prosp. Chron. 379 ; Martyrol. Paul's 
f. 5 ; Chron. Pash. 217. 221 ; Euseb. H. E. I. 
10 ; Euseb. Chron. A. 2048. 

• •. ... March 19th, l*" : Partial eclipse of the sun in 

-Ethiopia, {SI 8°, cor. 4° west), seen by Diony- 
sius Areapagita, but inyisible in Palestine. 
Seyff. Chronol. see p. 288. 

• .. ... March 22d, (Xisan 17th), Sunday: Christ's .. ... 

resurrection after three days and three nights, 
on the 26th day of Phamenath. Epiphan. 
Hser. p. 449. 

... 202, 3. Sept. 11th, 22^30' P. T. : Total eclipse of 

the sun at Nica?a in Bithvnia, {Is 8°, cor. 5° 
east). Euseb. Chron. I. f 7 ; II. 202 ; Syncell. 



238 ArPENDix. 



A.C. Olymp. U. C. A.M. 

p. 256 Yen. ; Fasti Sic. p. 222 ; Maxim. Schol. 

ad Dion. Ar. Ep. 7. 
35. 203, 1. Herod Philippus dies. Joseph. Ant. XYIIL 787. 5905 

4,6. 
37. 203, 2. February 11th : Planetary configuration of 789. 5907 

the Zodiac of Dendera at Paris, with respect 

to Nero's birth. 
... ... April 12th : Mercury (Ph'cenix) passes over 

the disk of the sun. Tac. An. VI. 26 ; Plin. 

H. N. X. 2. 
... ... April 13th: Planetary configuration of the 

Temple of Dendera in Egypt, previous to Ne- 
ro's birth. Seyff. Astron. ^g. p. 239. 
... 203 3. Dec. loth: Nero born according to both Zo^ .. ... 

diacs of Dendera. Suet. Ner. 6 puts Nero's 

birth later, erroneously, by two years. 
39. 203, 4. March 16th, (26h) : Tibefius dies. Suet. Tib. 791. "5909 

73. Caligula's 1st year of government begins. 

Dio. 59, 6. 

42. 204, 4. Herodes Antipas exiled in the 43d year of his 794. 5912 

reign. Joseph. An. XVII. 8, 1 ; XVIII. 7, 1. 

43. ... January 24th : Caligula dies. Suet. Cal. 56. 795. 5913 
... ... January 25th : The 1st year, and the Ist Tri- 

bunitia protestas of Claudius began ; he 
reigned but 12 years, 7 months, and 12 days, 
as his coins demonstrate. Eckhel, D. N. VI. 
226. 250 ; Tac. An. XII. 69 ; Eutrop. VII. 13 ; 
Senec. De M. C. c. 1. Seyff. Bericht. p. 42. 

47. 205, 4. January 25th : The 5th year of Claudius be- 799. 5917 

gan together with his 5th Trib. pot. Comp. 
43 A. C. 
.. . 206, 1. June 28th : Claudius' Decree in favor of the ., ••• 
Jews. Joseph. Ant. XX. 1, 2 : K.\av6ios K.aT- 
(rap Yspji^viKOS. Srinap^iKTii e^ovaias to nifinTov^ 
vnaTOi anoS^isiYixcvai to TCTapTov Xypa^r) npo TCa- 
(rapoiv KokavSojv 'lovXiov eni VTiOLTiav 'Pov<pdv koli 
Uofi'TTiiov HiXdvov. This autographical Decree 
of Claudius proves, that Rufus and Silvanus 
were Consuls during the fifth Tribunitia po- 
testas of Claudius, consequently Coss. extraor- 
dinarii in that same year, in which M. Vinicius 
and Stat. Taurus were Coss. ordinarii. 

48. 206,2. June 14th, 6^ : Limar eclipse in Rome, (^ 800. 5918 

10° west), his coss. Dio. LX. 29. 
50. 206, 3. A Census instituted in the 8th year of Clau- 802. 5020 
dius. Joseph. Ant. X. 5, 2 ; Tac. An. XI. 
25 ; Plin. H. N. A^I. 48. 

... ... April 15th : Mercury (Plioenix) passes over 

the disk of the sun in tlie time of a lunar eclipse. 
Suidas, Phoenix ; Plin. H. N. X. 2 ; Aurel. 



APPENDIX. 



239 



A. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

Vict. Claud. IV. 12 ; Salin. Pal. 33. 36 ; Dio. 
Coss. 1. 1. 
50. 206, 3. April 25th, 7^ : Lunar eclipse at Rome, {Si 2° 802. 5920 
east, cor. 1° west). Aurel. Vict. IV. 12. 

54. 207, 4. Sept. ISth : Trajan born according to his na- 806. 5924 

tivity, expressed in the Tabula Bembina. 
Seyff. Astr. JEg. 207. 

55. 207, 4. A Comet visible, retrogressive. Suet. Claud. 807. 5925 

46 ; Senec. Q. N". VII. 21. 
. . . 208, 1. Oct. 13th : Claudius dies, his coss. Suet 

Claud. 46 ; Tacit. An. XII. 64. 67. 68. 
... Oct. 13th : Nero's 1st Trib. Pot. and reign 

began. 
60. 209, 1. March 19th : If ero kiUs his mother Agrippina. 812. 5930 

Tac. An. XIV. 3. 
. . . 209, 2. Oct. 12th, 19*^ : Solar eclipse at Rome, between 

the 7th and 8th hour A. M., after Agrippina's 

death. Plin. H. N. II. 72. 

66. 210, 4. June 29th : The Apostles Peter and Paul put 818. 5936 

to death. Oros. VII. 7 ; Martyrol. Pauli ad. 
III. Kal. Jul. 

67. 210, 4. Vespasianus sent into Jud^a. Jos. B. J. III. 819. 5937 

1, 2. 6, 2. 

. . . ... Nero goes to the Olympian games, which are 

postponed for one year. Philost. V. A. IV. 
24. 17. 18. 34, V. 7. 11 ; Pausan. X. 36, 4. 

69. 211, 2. April 3d : Galba proclaimed emperor ; he 821. 5939 

reigns seven months and seven days. Philostr. 
V. A. V. 11. 
. . 211, 3. June 9th : Nero kills himself. Suet. Nero . . , 
40. 57. 

70. 211, 3. January 15th : Galba dies. Tacit. Hist. I. c. 1, 2. 822. 5940 

... January 16th . Otho proclaimed emperor. 

Tac. H. I. 47. 
April 16th : Otho dies at Brixellum. Tacit. 

Hist. II. 46. 
. . 211, 4. July 1st : Vespasianus proclaimed emperor. 

Tac. H. II. 79 ; Joseph. B. J. IV. 10. 
Sept. 30th : The Sabbath year of the Hebrews . . , 

began, during which Jerusalem was destroyed. 

Seder 01am. p. 91, Mag. 

71. 212, 1. August 9th : The Saturday of the Jews began, 823. 5941 

and a new class of priests enter the Temple. 

August 10th, (Lous 10th), Saturday (Thalmud, 

Tha. 29, 1) : Destruction of the Temple. Jo- 
seph. B. J. VI. 4, 5. 

• • ... Sept. 7th, (Gorpia^us 8th), Saturday (Xiphil 

66, 4) : the remnant walls of Jeruealem de- 
stroyed. Joseph. B. J. VI. 8, 5; 10, 1; 
VII. 1 ; Diod. 66, 4. 



240 - APPENDIX. 



A. C. Olymp. U. C. A. M. 

74. 212, 4. Dec. 22d, (winter solstice) : Planetary con- 826. 6944 

figuration of the Corinthian Puteal previous 
to the birth year of Adrian Seyff. Bericht. 
p. 244.- 

75. 212,4. March 23d, (vernal equinox): Planetarf con- 827. 5949 

figuration of the temple of Daphni, previous 
to Adrian's birth. Seyff. Bericht. p. 217. 

76. 213, 1. January 22d : Adrian born iinder these Con- 728. 5950 

suls. Dio. 66, 15 ; Suet. Vesp. 9. 

78. 213, 4. July : Vespasian is, during his 8th Consulate, 830. 5048 

Cos. IX. designatus. Gruter, Thes. P. 243 ; 
270, 2 ; pag. 1184 ad no. 243, 7. Eckhel, D. 
I N. YI. p. 343, where the following Inscrip- 
tions are cited : 

Imp. CcBsari Vespasiano Aug. Pontifici Maximo Trib. 
pot. VIII. Imper. XVII. p. p. Cos. VIII. Diodes. IX. 
censori cet. 

Pontifici Max Trii. pot Imperat. XVII. 

Cos. VIII. design. IX. Conservatori. cet. 
Note. — No Consul being designated to his Consulship 
sooner than six months previously ; and the Inscrip- 
tions demonstrating, that Yespasian during his 8th 
Consulship was designated to his 9th Consulship, it is 
obvious that both Consulates of Yespasian followed 
immediately the one after the other ; as is proved also 
. by the other Consulships of Yespasian. Thus then Pe- 

tavius inserted erroneously those Consuls between the 
8th and the 9th Consulship of Yespasian, when, in fact, 
they were but Coss. sufiFecti, or extraordinarii, inter- 
calating them one whole jear. This is besides proved 
by all the following and preceding eclipses and by the 
coins of Yespasian, and the years of his reign. For 
"'utropius gives him but 9 years minus 7 daj'|, and all 
others reckoning from Nero's death, but 10 years. 
There is not a coin or inscription in existence, con- 
cerning the supposed 10th year of Yespasian, as during 
the year, which Petavius adds, there certainly must 
have been some coins or inscriptions executed. 

79. 214, 1. June 23d : Yespasian died, 67 years, 7 months '831. 5949 

old. Suet. Yesp. 24 ; Dio. 66, 17. 
... ... Titus began his reign and his Trib. pot. IX 

on the same 23d of June. 
... ... Aug. 24th : Herculaneum destroyed by Yesu- 

vius. Plin. Ep. III. 6. 
81. 214, 3. Sept. 13th : Titus died ; the 1st year of Do- 838. 5951 

mitianus began. 
96 218, 2. Sept. 18th : Domitian died ; the 1st year of 848. 5966 

Nerva began. 
98. 218, 3. January 25th : Nerva died ; the 1st year of 850. 5968 

Trajan began. 
117. 223, 3. August 9th : Trajan died ; the Ist year of 869. 5987 

Adrian began. 
130. 226, 3. Kal. Jan. : Coss. Q. Fab. CatuUinus, Q. Jul. 882. 6000 

Balbus. 
... ... Adrian allows Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Dio 

69, 12. 






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